Lucknow: BJP ended days-long suspense over who would be the next Uttar Pradesh chief minister and named five time MP Yogi Adityanath for the top post on Friday evening.
Born as Ajay Singh Bisht, the 44-year-old is known to exercise considerable clout in east-UP districts, including Gorakhpur. He is the head priest of the Gorakhnath Mutt, a position he took over after the death of Mahant Aavaidyanath in September 2014.
A star campaigner of the party in the run up to the UP Assembly polls, Adityanath is considered to be the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development.
He began his political career quite early in his life and was the youngest MP in the 12th Lok Sabha at the ripe age of 26. In 2002, he went on to find the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), which has often been mired in controversies.
The organisation was charged by the police in the 2005 riots in Mau, its members were accused of inciting riots, murder, and arson and were arrested.
In 2007, Adityanath himself faced arrest and was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. He was jailed along with his supporters for allegedly stoking communal tensions in Gorakhpur and breaking police curfew by venturing into a troubled area where clashes had broken out between Hindus and Muslims.
His arrest only led to further unrest as the HYV was accused of burning two coaches of the Mumbai bound Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express in retaliation.
Earlier last year, the HYV had demanded that the BJP name Adityanath as its chief ministerial face for the 2017 assembly polls. However, Aditynath’s name was nowhere in the CM race until this week.
