The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled a shocker by choosing the staunch Hindutva man Yogi Adityanath, who is an MP, as the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was sworn in on Sunday along with two deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma -- Lucknow's Mayor -- and Keshav Prasad Maurya -- BJP UP State president.
BJP chief Amit Shah as well as other senior BJP ministers attended the event that took place at Lucknow's Smriti Upvan.
Adityanath was not known by the name he currently is known by. He was born Ajay Singh Bisht in Garhwal, Uttarakhand in 1972. He completed BSc mathematics from Garhwal University in 1992. However, within two years he became a disciple of Gorakhnath temple under Mahanth Avaidyanath. His name was changed to Yogi Adityanath after receiving deeksha.
He has been part of politics since 1996. He managed the election campaign for Mahanth Avaidyanath. In 1998, Avaidyanath retired and declared Adityanath his successor and named him for the Lok Sabha polls.
In 1998, Adityanath won the Lok Sabha polls and became the youngest member of the 12th Lok Sabha. He has won from the same seat in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.
But he has been involved in many controversies. In 1999, Samajwadi Party member Talat Aziz was reportedly shot at on the orders of Adityanath. After the rumours that the shooting was on his directions, people reportedly chanted "Gorakhpur mein rehna hai toh Yogi Yogi kehna hai." Apart from his staunch Hindu cause, he also tried to garner support from the Dalit community.
He founded the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a social, cultural and nationalist group of young people. He is known for his Hindutva slogans and has said in the past that he would not stop until Uttar Pradesh and India is turned into a Hindu nation.
During the 2017 Assembly election campaigns, he said that western Uttar Pradesh was like Jammu and Kashmir of the 1990s, when Hindus were exiled. He participated in more than 100 rallies and was named a star campaigner for the party.
