Saffron wave turns into tsunami in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: It began as a wave and everyone thought it was the first flush of success but with time, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s affinity for saffron is turning into an obsession in the BJP-ruled state.

The saffron tidal wave has now turned into a tsunami of sorts, creating a whole new “saffron world” - and that too, at the cost of the tax payer’s money.

Bureaucrats who have realised that saffron pleases the chief minister are now going overboard in creating the saffron world in Uttar Pradesh.

It began with the Sachivalaya getting a saffron coat of paint and then roadways buses, electric poles turned into a vibrant shade of orange. School bags that were distributed to children in government schools turned saffron and the official government directory came in a saffron cover.

Towels, sofas, curtains in the chief minister’s secretariat have also gone saffron and now even tents put up during various functions that Mr Adityanath attends, are orange in colour. Marigolds are used for decorations and roses are out. Even the clock in the Vidhan Sabha has turned saffron and so have the soap bars in the washrooms.

Government schools and even hospital are getting saffron painted along with benches in public parks.

Interestingly, the Indian cricket team that came to play in Kanpur recently, was welcomed with saffron “gamchas” and the IPS XI team that played a friendly cricket match with IAS XI last week, wore saffron T-shirts on the ground.

Even the waiters in the Vidhan Bhawan canteen are now strutting around in saffron shirts.

A member of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lucknow, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “This is probably the first time that a particular colour has turned into an industry. Anything and everything that is saffron is being lapped up by the government and the ruling party. Though we do not have the figures at the moment, we can say that saffron is emerging as an industry within an industry - whether it is clothes, stationary, paints, upholstery or interior designing”.

A dealer of a leading paint brand said that saffron, as a  colour, was never in demand, but after Yogi Adityanath came to power, the demand surged.

“In the initial months of the government the painters mixed yellow and red in right proportions to get the perfect saffron shade but now we have readymade saffron paint that can be used on metal and wood”, he said.

BJP legislators, not to be left behind, have also changed the treasury benches in the state Assembly into saffron benches.  The men come dressed in saffron kurtas, saffron jackets and saffron turbans while the women match them in saffron saris and shawls.

Janeshwar Thakur, who owns a tiny shop selling Khadi kurta-pyjama in Darulshafa, the old legislators’ hostel in Lucknow, said, “The demand for the traditional white kurta has dwindled and everyone wants ‘bhagwa’ (saffron). Since saffron Khadi is not available, I am getting my stock dyed in saffron”.

A BJP legislator from eastern UP, who did not wish to be named, said, “This is the colour of success and it has given us a new identity. Though it is a bit too flashy but since everyone is wearing it, I have also joined the bandwagon.”

Seeing the craze for saffron, an online shopping portal has even started selling saffron colour sneakers and about half-a-dozen BJP legislators could be seen wearing them in the winter session of the state Assembly.

Taking a cue from the legislators, bureaucrats are also toeing he saffron line. Recently, when the chief minister visited Pilibhit, the district magistrate Sheetal Varma wore a saffron sari.

UP minister Siddhartha Nath Singh defends the trend. “What is wrong with saffron? It is a colour that gives positivity. The colour of the rising sun is saffron and the colour of fire is also saffron”.

Samajwadi leader Ram Govind Chaudhary, on the other hand, said that the Yogi Adityanath government is taking the “saffron obsession too far”.

“This kind of thing has never happened before and the state government is already taking this to absurd lengths. Every party has its colour but no one has done this ever before”, he said.

BSP president and former chief minister Mayawati had also tried to paint the state capital blue (the BSP colour) but she did not carry the colour into her home and office. Blue was restricted to signage and boundary grills.