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| The demand was made by nearly 2,000 sadhus of Dharma Jagran Vibhag, an RSS wing of religious leaders |
February 4, 2016, NewsCrunch
Sadhus affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh passed a resolution on Wednesday demanding BJP to make Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath the face of its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
If the BJP accedes to the demand, Adityanath would also become a strong contender for the CM's post, if the party wins the election.
The demand was made by nearly 2,000 sadhus of Dharma Jagran Vibhag, an RSS wing of religious leaders, through a unanimous resolution passed at the end of a three-day meet at Gorakhpur, reports The Telegraph.
Swami Chinmayanand, who was a central minister in the Vajpayee government said Adityanath was as young as Akhilesh and hence could take on the incumbent CM. He also said as a hardliner, Adityanath would ensure the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
BJP is likely to ignore the demand as it would like to fight the polls under Modi. It would also be conscious that Adityanath is a divisive figure who would consolidate votes of minorities and those uncomfortable with hardline Hindutva politics against it.
However, in the past, BJP has not shied away from using Adityanath as star campaigner whenever it though the electoral calculus favoured his projection. Many in BJP see the sadhus' resolution as Adityanath's flexing of muscles to bargain for more seats for his supporters.
Adityanath, who was present at the sadhus meet, said the election would be fought collectively.