| Adityanath Yogi | |
|---|---|
| Gorakhnath Mandir | |
| Constituency | Gorakhpur |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 June 1972 Garhwal, Uttarakhand |
| Died | [Alive] |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse(s) | Virakt Brahmchaari |
| Residence | Gorakhpur |
| Religion | Hindu (Nath Sampradayey) |
| Website | www.yogiadityanath.in |
| As of September 22, 2006 Source: [2] |
|
Adityanath Yogi (born 5 June 1972) is an Indian religious leader and politician. He is the Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur (Lok Sabha Constituency), elected in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. [1]
Adityanath is the intended successor of Avedyanath. the current mahant or head priest of the Gorakhnath Mutt, a Hindu temple in Gorakhpur. He is also the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini,a social, cultural and nationalist group of youth who seeks to provide rightist Hindu platform.
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Adityanath was the youngest legislator in the 12th Lok Sabha at 26. The young yogi is the successor to former Hindu Maha Sabha president Mahant Avaidyanath at the Gorakhpur temple and is at the forefront of the Hindutva agenda. Education: B.Sc (Maths) from Garhwal University ...Pet projects: Education and cow sheds. His office proudly claims that the MP started 18 educational institutions including a polytechnic; and Gorakhpur has 15 cow sheds. ..His office claims he checked smuggling of beef from his constituency to Bangladesh. Adityanath who became the youngest legislator in the 12 th Lok Sabha at 26 ( 1998) and got reelected twice after that has helped change the situation in and around Gorakhpur in a qualitative manner. For several years, Adityanath has been active in converting other religious groups such as low-caste converts to Christianity, ) back to Hinduism. In 2005, more than 5,000 people were converted in the town of Etah in UP.[2] It is reported that he says: “I will not stop till I turn UP and India into a Hindu rashtra,”.[3] A
Adityanath was arrested during the Gorakhpur riots of 2007 where a Hindu youth was killed after some others had opened fire on a Muslim religious procession (Moharram).[4]
A young man, was badly injured and hospitalised. The District Magistrate was informed at 1.30am and he told officials to brief Adityanath that he should not visit the site. As Agrahari died, Adityanath declared that now he would go to the spot. He declared his resolve to ensure justice for the Hindus. The MP demanded that curfew be imposed and withdrew. Later, however, Adityanath announced a torchlight procession. He announced a Shraddhanjali Sabha the next day at the town’s busiest crossroad. By this time, the dm had resolved not to allow it. Adityanath dismissed the warning, He and his ‘followers’ were taken to the police line. He and his ‘followers’ were taken to the police line. The three-km journey to the jail took more than 90 minutes. For the first time in his life, Adityanath is jailed under Section 151A of the crpc only to find later that he has also been booked under Sections 146, 147, 279, 506 of the Indian Penal Code.,[5] and was arrested and remanded for 14 days, on charges of destroying a Muslim tomb. This led to further unrest and several coaches of the Mumbai bound Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express was burnt, allegedly by Hindu Yuva Vahini activists.[6]
Amongst those who were arrested were local MP Yogi Adityanath, MLC Y.D. Singh; both of the BJP; and MLA Dr Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal belonging to the Hindu Mahasabha. As violence from Gorakhpur spread to six more districts in three divisions of east Uttar Pradesh, popularly called Purvanchal, the state government today showed the door to both the DM and the SSP.In view of the main Moharram festival on Tuesday, police presence was further strengthened in Gorakhpur and the adjoining districts with the RAF also being rushed to the division along with the PAC.[7] However, the day after the arrest, Hari Om, along with police chief Raja Srivastava were transferred. This was widely perceived as a result of Adityanath's clout with the Uttar Pradesh government of Mulayam Singh Yadav.[8]
Furthermore, when the new officials, Rakesh Goel and S.K. Bhagat joined duty the next day, they first paid a visit to Adityanath in jail.[9] Adityanath was released soon thereafter.
Subsequently, Adityanath protested his jailing in the parliament.[10]
Also he has been accused of communalism and rioting between the Muslim and Hindu community all over the state of uttar pradesh.
The Adityanath faction has had a strained relation with mainstream Bharatiya Janata Party for more than a decade.[11] With the emergence of a separate powerbase in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath has been seeking greater power, causing further conflicts.[12]
On December 22–24, 2006, Adityanath organized a three day Virat Hindu Mahasammelan at Gorakhpur, during the same period when the BJP was holding its National Executive Meet in Lucknow in the same state.
The Uttar Pradesh Elections, 2007 saw a conflict between Adityanath and the BJP leadership - he wanted more than 100 seats in this region to go to candidates selected by him, but the party leadership would not agree. Subsequently a compromise agreement was reached, possibly with inputs from the RSS,[13] and eight of his candidates were fielded.[14] It is said that Yogi worked against the party during the elections and BJP was able to win only 51 seats from the region against the projection of 100 to 120 seats.In the Indian General Election, 2009, Adityanath defeated Vinay Shankar Tiwari, son of the leading mafia don turned politician Hari Shankar Tiwari, by more than three lakh votes.[15] The young and dynamic politician Varun Gandhi, also a member of parliament, is a follower of Adityanath.
In March 2010, Adityanath was one of several BJP MPs who stated defiance to the party whip on the Women's reservation bill.[16]
Yogi Adityanath took over charge of Gorakhpur constituency in 1998 from his Guru Mahant Avedyanath, “the head priest of Gorakhnath Mutt” and contested the election as Bhartiya Janta Party candidate. He won by narrow margin. Since then he was elected in general election 1999, 2004 and 2009. Every time his margin of victory kept on increasing dramatically. Observer says that active presence of Hindu Yuva Vahini, Yogi’s religious background with his real ground work and election management by Yogi,s close associate Raghvendra Pratap Sing ensure certain victory Hindusm jindabad .[17]