Yogi Adityanath is an Indian politician and Hindu monk who has been serving as Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister since 19 March 2017. He was appointed to the position on March 26 after the Bhartiya Janta party won the state assembly election.
He was a prominent campaigner for the Bhartiya Janta Party. His action and work gained popularity which helped him to win the 2022 State Assembly elections again and become Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time. Before becoming Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he served five consecutive terms, from 1998 to 2017, as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur constituencies.
Adityanath was a Mahant (Head Priest) of the Gorakhnath Math, a Hindu monastery in Gorakhpur, even before he got into politics. He became mahant of GorakhNath math after the death of his spiritual father Avaidynath in September 2014. He also founded the Hindu nationalist organisation Hindu Yuva Vahini, influencing much youth. People started considering him as a staunch Hindu nationalist and right-wing supporter.
Full Name | Mahant Yogi Adityanath |
Nick Name | Yogi |
Profession | Politician and Hindu monk |
Political Party | BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) |
Current position | Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (2017-present) |
Date of Birth | 5th June 1972 |
Age (as of 2024) | 51 years 9 months |
Birthplace | Panchur, Pauri Garhwal Distt., Uttar Pradesh (present-day Uttarakhand), India |
Hometown | Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Current Address | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Marital status | Single (a sanyasi) |
Language Known | Hindi |
Educational Qualification | B.Sc (Maths) |
Highschool | Primary School, Pauri, Uttarakhand |
College Name | Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Uttarakhand |
Religion | Hinduism |
Caste/Ethnicity | Rajput (Thakur) |
Zodiac Sign/Star Sign | Gemini |
Political Career | *Won the Lok Sabha Elections for the 5 consecutive times from the Gorakhpur Constituency (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014) *Won the Assembly Election for the first time from Gorakhpur Assembly (2017) *Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (2017- present) |
parents | 1. Father name: late Anand Singh Bisht 2. Mother name: Savitri Devi |
siblings | 1. Brother
2. Sister
|
Education
He got his education from his neighbourhood school in Gaja, Tehri, in 1977 and completed his studies there in 1987; he gained a Class X diploma and an intermediate diploma from Rishikesh’s Sri Bharat Mandir Inter College in 1989.
EARLY LIFE
Yogi Adityanath’s real name is Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht. He was born on June 5th, 1972, in the Pauri Garhwal hamlet in Uttarakhand. Anand Singh Bisht, his father, worked as a forest ranger. He joined the Ayodhya Ram temple movement and accepted Mahant Avaidyanath as his mentor. After that got the nickname “Yogi Adityanath” and replaced Mahant Avaidyanath, the movement’s major figure for the Ram temple at the time.
Mahant Avaidyanath named Yogi Adityanath as his heir in 1994, and then he became Gorakhnath Math’s head priest. He was selected to lead Gorakhnath Math. At that time, he was responsible for supervising the education system, healthcare centres, and charitable trust of Gorakhnath.
Adityanath was moved to the role of Gorakhnath Math Mahant soon after Avaidyantah expired on September 12, 2014. He was named Peethadhishwar (Head Seer) of the Math according to the rituals of Nath sect
EARLY POLITICAL CAREER
Yogi Adityanath was appointed to Gorakhnath Maths in 1994. After four years, he became MP in the Indian Parliament’s Lower House. He was the youngest representative in the 12th Lok Sabha. Five years in a row, Gorakhpur voters chose him to represent him in Parliament. Furthermore, he created Hindu Yuva Vahini, a youth organisation. Hindu Yuva Vahini played a vital role in Yogi Adityanath’s rapid rise, leading him to lead his following political victory.
Sangh Parivar came together in an Ayodhya movement in 1991, and the same year Avaidyanath joined the Bhartiya Janta Party. Still, Avaidyanth always remained self-governed, and the BJP leadership have regularly clashed over the redistribution of electoral tickets. Adityanath was choosed as a candidate to the Lower House of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) four years after being appointed Avaidyanath’s successor.
Adityanath and the BJP leadership have frequently clashed over the distribution of electoral tickets. However, the Bhartiya Janta party doesn’t allow the tensions to rise because he has been a standout campaigner for the party.
In 2006, Yogi Adityanth made linkages between Nepali Maoists and Indian Leftist parties and used it as a prominent campaign topic to stand in the election and challenge his opponent. In 2008 on its way to Azamgarh his convoy was reportedly ambushed for an anti-terrorism protest. The incident killed one person and wounded at least six others.
In 2007, Yogi Adityanath, was detained and kept in Gorkhapur jail on suspicion of disturbing the peace and disobeying court orders. Adityanath’s imprisonment created riots in several areas, and Hindu Yuva Vahini members set fire to many coaches on the Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express. The District Magistrate and the local police chief were transferred and replaced the day following his arrest.
Relations with the BJP
Adityanath has had a contentious relationship with the BJP, criticising its weak Hindutva ideology. He revolted by choosing candidates against the BJP’s official candidates. The most famous case was Radha Mohan Das Agarwal’s election on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket in 2002, in which the Bhartiya Janta party lost that seat.
In 2006 during the BJP National Executive Meeting in Lucknow, Adityanath organised a three-day Virat Hindu Mahasammelan in Gorakhpur. Despite frequent revolts and controversy, L. K. Advani, RSS leader and VHP chairman, have all paid him visits.
In 2010, he disobeyed party policy on women’s reservation in Parliament. Adityanath was a key BJP campaigner in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. He was one of numerous BJP MPs that disobeyed party rules on the women’s reservation bill. In 2017, he was a prominent BJP campaigner in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections which helped the Bhartiya Janta party to win the assembly elections,
He was elected as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017. He immediately outlawed the use of cigarettes, pan, and gutka in state government buildings. In the state, he also launched anti-Romeo squads. Additionally, more than 100 fraudulent police officers were dismissed.
Ministry Allocation
Following his election as Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, Adityanath held over 36 departments firmly under his supervision, including the ministry of housing, township and countryside planning, and the home ministry. The decision to erase small farmer debts in 2017 was made at his first cabinet meeting, held on April 4. In a madrasa (religious school for Muslims), the Indian national anthem was made compulsory.
Law and order
Adityanath established a “Anti-Romeo Squad”. He banned paan, gutka and cigarettes in government offices across the state and also ordered staff to dedicate 100 hours per year to the Swachh Bharat Mission. More than 100 “Black Sheep” policemen were suspended from the Uttar Pradesh police. His administration ordered the removal of around 20,000 “politically driven” lawsuits, including those against him and other officials. He imposed harsh rules against cattle smuggling and ordered the closure of several slaughterhouses. Several tanneries were also ordered to close.
Infrastructure Development
Adityanath, together with Indian PM and South Korean President, launched the world’s largest smartphone manufacturing factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in July 2018. In a record four months, his government was credited with supplying 50 MW of energy and installing a 22-kilometre-long energy connection for the Samsung mobile network facility.
The Uttar Pradesh government, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, laid the groundwork for the Defence Industrial Corridor project in Jhansi in November 2019. In November 2019, the Uttar Pradesh government and the Ministry of Defence laid the foundation stone of the Defence Industrial Corridor project in Jhansi.
Yogi Adityanath met with industry officials to discuss boosting private investment in the defence corridor project. According to reports, around 90% of the project has been completed, including Kashi Vishwanath Dham expansion and development.
AIIMS, Gorakhpur project of Rs 1,100-crore, the foundation laid on July 22, 2016, the main aim to give proper facilities with Japanese technologies and machines and good OPD facility. According to sources, the government has promised to commence the commercial venture in this portion with six trains by mid-December, before the 2022 election declaration. Adityanath flagged a trial run on the 9-km stretch connecting IIT Kanpur to the Motijheel locality of the 32.5-km Laid Kanpur metro line.
On October 21, 2021, at Kushinagar Airport, an Rs. The 260-crore project would open. This is one of the major infrastructure projects completed under the Adityanath government.
Adityanath government claims to have completed about 76% of the work. Bundelkhand Highway is a 296-kilometre-long, four-lane-wide access-controlled expressway under development in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It would link Gonda village on NH-35 in the Chitrakoot district with Kudrail village on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in the Etawah district.
ORDINANCE AND BILL
On October 31, Adityanath declared that his administration would enact the Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020, to combat “Love Jihad.” In July 2021, Adityanath proposed the UP population control draught law 2021-2030. Several perks were also announced based on the established single-child and two-child policies. The opposition Congress dubbed it a “political agenda,” while the Samajwadi Party called it “democracy murder.”
Second Term (2022-present)
On March 10, 2022, the results of the legislative assembly were officially declared. The BJP-led NDA alliance had obtained 273 seats, giving the current Chief Minister Yogi a second term. Yogi and his party made history, and now he is the first Chief Minister to take office once more after completing the full 5-year term.
Achievements
Agriculture:
- Over 86 lakh small and marginal farmers’ loans worth Rs 36,000 crore have been forgiven.
- Rs 1.12 crore in cane dues settled after three years
Highways and expressways:
- The biggest network of expressways.
- The Purvanchal Expressway will be completed by April.
- Bundelkhand Expressway acquired 40% of the land.
- UP is the country’s highest testing state. Over 6 lakh infected cases have been documented, with approximately 8,000 deaths.
Covid:
- Over 27 lakh foreign labourers were hired in 11 lakh units.
- Rape incidents decreased from 4.5 instances per lakh to 2.8 cases per lakh
- As of December 15, 129 criminals had been slain, and 2,782 had been wounded
- Rs 23 lakh was recovered from rioters who damaged property during anti-CAA rioting.
Economy:
- The administration intends to create a $1 trillion economy.
- Over Rs 2.25 lakh crore in investments has started construction. Over Rs 57,000 crores in investments came to UP even under Covid.
- UP is ranked second for business accessibility.
Airport:
- Airport: The initial stage will conclude in 2024.
- The construction of new airports to improve connectivity in small cities.
- Construction of airports in the cities of Ayodhya, Kushinagar, Sonebhadra, Chitrakoot, and Kanpur is ongoing in an effort to increase religious tourism.
Film city:
- Greater Noida will feature a 100-acre film city.
- The government intends to start filming there by 2022.
- The initiative has received praise from movie stars, who described it as the right choice at the right moment.
Ayodhya:
- This holy city will be a centre of religious tourism
- An attempt will be made to make it a solar city
- The Ram Janaki Path has been planned, and new hotels are expected in the city.
Controversies
Yogi was criticised for encouraging non-Hindus to adopt Hinduism. According to reports, in 2005, Adityanath directed a programme of purification that included converting Christians to Hinduism. One of these situations. In the Uttar Pradesh town of Etah, 1,800 Christians reportedly converted to Hinduism.
In 2007 Raj Kumar Agrahari, a young Hindu was hospitalised when a brawl broke out between a Hindu group and Muslims during a Muharram parade in Gorakhpur. He was later imprisoned following his controversial comments, which prompted rioting in Gorakhpur. In 2015, Yogi indicated that anyone who disagrees with Surya Namaskar, a component of Yoga, is free to leave India.
Yogi Adityanath compared Hafiz Saeed, a terrorist from Pakistan, to ShaRukh Khan and said, Shah Rukh Khan should keep in mind that the Indian people made him famous. If they decide to boycott his films, he would also be forced to roam the streets. This statement bans him from campaigning for 72 hours by the election commission due to violating the model code of conduct.
Yogi Adityanath’s Book
- ‘Yaugik Shatkarm’,
- ‘Hathayog Swaroop evam Sadhna’,
- ‘Hindu Rashtra Nepal
- Atit, Vartmaan evam Bhavisya’,
- ‘Rajyog: Swaroop evam Sadhana’
Facts about Yogi Adityanath
- Yogi left his home at the age of 21. He first met Mahant Avaidyanath of the Goraknath Temple in Rishikesh when he was 22 years old and enrolled with him as a student before moving to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.Uttar Pradesh.
- He participated in the Ayodhya movement in the 1990s.
- Yogi’s political career began in 1996 when he was given the responsibility of running Mahant Avaidyanath’s election campaign.
- He was chosen to serve in the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998. He represented the same seat five times while serving as the youngest MP at the time.
- Yogi won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of 1,42,309 votes. Adityanath Yogi is a well-liked politician in his district.
- Yogi is very popular for his mission to convert other religious groups to Hinduism.
- Yogi was the successor of late Mahant Avaidyanath, who was the President of Hindu Maha Sabha and a Mahant of GorakhNath math
- Yogi is also famous for his Hindutva agenda. He put this plan at the forefront of his election campaign.
- Yogi Adityanath, also known as Yogi, is the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a youth people’s social, spiritual, and nationalist organisation. It is very popular amongst Hindus of Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
- Adityanath was one of numerous BJP MPs who disobeyed the party line on the women’s reservation bill in March 2010.
- With his controversial statements throughout the years, he has become the fiery Hindu face of the BJP.
- He has never had a strong relationship with the Bhartiya Janata Party in spite of his popularity inside the party. For ten years, he has had a tense relationship with the party. In the 2007 UP Elections, BJP and Yogi conflicted.
- Yogi is an animal lover, and he also runs many goshalas
- He was appointed the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19, 2017.
- Many goshalas are supervised by Yogi, who also loves animals.
- He made his maiden trip as Chief Minister to his home hamlet of Puncher in the Pauri district on May 3, 2022.
- He even missed his father’s funeral on 21 April 2020 to ensure the enforcement of the COVID-induced lockdown. He shared a photo of himself holding his mother’s feet after visiting his hometown.
- Reportedly, after spending the night in his village, Adityanath attended the hair tonsure ceremony of his nephew the next day.
- He was given the responsibility of running Mahant Avaidyanath’s election campaign in 1996.
- He was chosen to represent Gorakhpur as an MP in the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014. In 1998, he was elected as the youngest MP (Gorakhpur) to the 12th Lok Sabha at the age of 26.
- He served in divisions including the Committee on Food between 1998 and 1999.
- He got re-elected to the 13th Lok Sabha for re-election in 1999-2000, serving in the Committee on Food, Civil Services, and Public Distribution: Member of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Consultative Committee
- He was re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004 for a third term, serving on the Council on Government Pledges, the Council on External Affairs, and the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Advisory Council.
- Adityanath was re-elected again from the Gorakhpur seat to the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014 for a fifth term. On March 19, 2017, he was appointed the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He prevailed in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly vote in 2022 by Gorakhpur by more than 73 thousand votes
- He took the oath of office on March 25, 2022, becoming the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh to serve a second consecutive term after serving the entire five years of the State