UP minister's kin's book rakes up CM Yogi remarks

Lucknow: A new book by senior UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya’s daughter in which she praises Yogi Adityanath may end up embarrassing him and also open a way for criticism because they speak of his controversial past and alleged statements.

Co-authored by Sanghmitra Maurya, the book titled “Moditva  ke Maine” (Meaning of Moditva) focuses on the rise of Narendra Modi.

While Mr Maurya refused to comment, other ministers said that it was a deliberate attempt to malign the image of Yogi Adityanath.

The book claims that Yogi Adityanath is an ardent follower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and points back to controversial statements made by Yogi Adityanath and explores his past.

For instance, the book recalls a video recording made in August 2014, in which Mr Adityanath is shown telling supporters that if ‘they (Muslims) convert one Hindu girl, we will convert 100 Muslim girls’.

Mr Adityanath, at that time, had declined to comment on the video, saying it was for the media to find out whether the truth.

The authors also recall him as allegedly saying that if he had his way, he would “place idols of Hindu gods and goddesses, Gauri and Ganesh, in all the mosques of the country”.

After the lynching of Modh Ikhlaq in Dadri, Mr Adityanath is quoted as having said, “I have read that Akhlaq had gone to Pakistan. Once he returned from Pakistan, his activities changed. Has the government found out why this man went to Pakistan? He is being glorified”.

The book claims that “Yogi floated in controversies while his popularity continued to soar”.

The authors, Sanghmitra Maurya and Deepak K.S. attribute most of the controversies around him to the period when he had floated the Hindu Yuva Vahini for a ‘crusade against religious conversions’. Also, it has several quotes attributed to the chief minister. These include “Those opposing yoga should quit India”, “Those opposing Surya Namaskar should be drowned in the sea” and “There is a demographic imbalance in the country because of the high reproductive rate among Muslims”. The authors have quoted him as allegedly lamenting in February 2015 that “Aryavrat (land of the Aryans) made Aryans. We will turn all to Hindus in India. We will fly the saffron flag all over the world. No non-Muslim can enter Mecca. No non-Christian can go to Vatican City but we welcome them all”.

The authors, meanwhile, also have a word of caution for Mr Adityanath when they say that “He must now introduce good governance in the state, otherwise his negative image would continue to haunt the people”.