The choice of Yogi Adityanath as the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh may cause eye brows to be raised as it may seem goodbye to Narendra Modi’s professed secularism. That is ominous for a vast and populous state like Uttar Pradesh. Adityanath is a cleric and a saffron hard liner. He has no administrative experience. He is known for his rabid anti-Muslim rhetoric which does not spare Shahrukh Khan or Muslim women. His dream of a Hindurashtra is hardly in consonance with the directive principles of the Indian Constitution. The concern among BJP veterans about the party’s emphasis on the sole criterion of winnability applies to him. It is the first time a CM has been sworn in who has several cases of writing against him. That throws promise of law and order in UP and of ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’ overboard. The new CM’s pre occupations seem to be with restoration of Ram Mandir, cow protection and the mythical Love-Jihad. It is common knowledge that growth cannot occur without law and order. Social stability is also a sine-qua-non. And if the CM encourages communal riots as he may well do considering his past record, woe be to the State.
It is however some comfort to know that the BJP high command has appointed two Deputy CM’s to put a restraint on Adityanath’s Hindutva manaticism-Keshav Maurya and Dinesh Sharma. But that may go against the imperatives of good governance. Misrule in UP will not promote the BJP’s national image.