*Paromita Das
Some believe the answer lies in the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s personal ambitions.
As protracted Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti celebrations marked by massive Hindutva groups-led processions sparked communal violence across the country in April, Uttar Pradesh maintained a nervous calm.
There were isolated incidents throughout the state, but none escalated into uncontrollable violence, and the police responded quickly.
In Ayodhya, police quickly apprehended seven Hindutva activists for attempting to “incite communal violence.” The accused, who allegedly wanted vengeance for communal violence in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, allegedly littered several mosques in the city with pieces of pork, abusive anti-Muslim letters, and torn pages from the holy Quran.
Indeed, days after the violence in Jahangirpuri, Delhi, where Hindutva men openly brandished swords and tridents during a Hanuman Jayanti rally, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath issued an order prohibiting the display of arms and weapons in religious processions. Festive rallies were to be held only with permission from the administration, and the organisers would have to submit affidavits stating that there would be no trouble, according to the order.
Simultaneously, according to news reports, the chief minister’s anti-loudspeaker drive appeared to have been enforced fairly, with several temples and mosques across the state voluntarily removing or lowering the levels of their megaphones.
While these actions may appear routine in another state, the Uttar Pradesh governments track record during Adityanath’s first term as chief minister makes these developments seem almost extraordinary.
A Hindutva-dominated first five years
In his first term, Adityanath, a saffron-clad monk accused of leading mob attacks against Muslims as the leader of a Hindutva vigilante group he founded, proudly wore his politics on his sleeves. He passed a slew of laws that explicitly targeted Muslims, such as banning buffalo meat and effectively criminalising inter-faith marriages.
The chief minister’s ostensible zero-tolerance policy, which included dubious police killings and property bulldozing, revealed a clear pattern of Muslims being disproportionately targeted.
When Adityanath ran for reelection earlier this year, he became the first Uttar Pradesh chief minister in nearly four decades to return to power after serving a full term.
An attempt at image makeover?
Surprisingly, Adityanath appears to have toned down his blatant Hindutva agenda in the early days of his second term. Even as several long-running disputes over mosques that Hindutva groups want demolished have erupted in recent weeks, the chief minister has remained deafeningly silent.
Keshav Prasad Maurya, his deputy, has frequently weighed in on the contentious issue, rejoicing in the alleged discovery of Hindu symbols in a mosque in Varanasi.
This retreat has not gone unnoticed by political observers in the state. Mirza Asmer Beg, a political scientist at Aligarh Muslim University, drew attention to a recent tweet by Adityanath’s media advisor Mrityunjay Kumar. The chief minister in the photo is standing and reading what appears to be an application from a burkha-clad woman sitting. “You can hate him all you want, but he will never discriminate,” Kumar wrote alongside the photo. “This is not a photograph of a politician in a nightclub that was accidentally leaked,” Beg explained. “It was purposefully left out for people to notice.”
‘It is Yogi ji who comes after Modi ji.’
But why would Adityanath and his aides want to portray the chief minister as moderate? After all, Hindu consolidation was critical to the BJP’s retention of power in Uttar Pradesh, and Adityanath’s appeal lay in his unwavering Hindutva stance.
Some believe Adityanath’s personal ambitions are to blame. For some time, he has been touted as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s successor, despite the fact that he will be well past the age of 70 by the 2024 Lok Sabha election. When Modi ran for the BJP’s prime ministerial nomination in 2014, he attempted a somewhat similar image makeover.
“Well, it is obvious that it is Yogi ji after Modi ji, so maybe he is preparing for that,” the chief of a district unit of the party joked. Because of his monastic background, Adityanath’s supporters refer to him as Yogi.
Beg agreed that the attempted moderate turn could be motivated by “his position in national politics.” “Yogi is now the national leader who stands next to Modi. There is no doubt about it after his UP victory “He stated.
Are you reaching out?
But, given the country’s recent communal turn in politics, does such an image makeover really boost Adityanath’s standing within the BJP? A BJP MLA from the state stated that there is no need for a dichotomy. “He will never compromise on Hindutva,” he said, “but being in power matures you and teaches you many things you wouldn’t know otherwise.”
The MLA referred to Yogi’s tough stance in Uttar Pradesh following communal violence in the state. “His focus is on law and order because that is ultimately what the public wants,” he explained.
Some speculate that Adityanath’s latest guise is an attempt to polish his administrative credentials. “He appears to be concentrating on more governance issues,” said Shashikant Pandey, a political science professor at Lucknow University.
“It was clear from the elections that the perceived improvement in law and order was a big draw among the electorate.”
In any case, observers say, Adityanath has already done enough to be confident in his popularity among Hindus. “He knows the votes of the majority community aren’t going anywhere,” Beg explained. “Perhaps he believes there’s nothing wrong with connecting with the other side because he believes he has a national role to play.”
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