YogiGovt@8: A ‘surprise’ CM who became a brand and now a constant of BJP’s politics

In March 2017, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared Yogi Adityanath— its five-time Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur and Mahant of Gorakhnath Mutt—as the chief minister after party’s landslide victory in the U.P. assembly election, there was surprise in the political corridors.

In March 2025, when Yogi Adityanath completes eight years in office, he has not only set a record of being the longest serving CM of Uttar Pradesh as well as the only CM of the state to have two consecutive terms, but has also become a constant of BJP politics and poster boy of its Hindutva brand politics.

From playing a pivotal role in the opening of Ram temple in Ayodhya to endorsing the Hindu groups’ claims over shrines in Varanasi and Mathura, successful Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, bulldozer actions against mafias, calling for Hindu unity with ‘batenge toh katenge’ slogan, Yogi is setting the tenor of the BJP election campaigns not only in Uttar Pradesh but also in other states where the party was locked in a fierce battle with the opposition.

Considered a Hindu hardliner, Yogi Adityanath’s political activities were confined to the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh nurturing his outfit- Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) to maintain a hold in the rural areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh before he took over the reins of the state.

Although he disbanded the HYV after becoming the CM, but to send a message that he remained rooted in the Hindutva ideology, Yogi continued as the Mahant of Gorakhnath Mutt. He also ordered a crackdown on criminals and illegal slaughterhouses across the state.

The first major test for him on law and order front came during the infamous Bikru case in Kanpur when 8 policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police rank cop, were killed in July 2020 in an ambush by the gang of notorious criminal Vikas Dubey.

Yogi ordered crackdown on the gang and a police team nabbed Dubey in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district. When the police team was bringing him to Kanpur, the vehicle in which he was travelling mysteriously overturned near Kanpur. Dubey was killed while he was trying to flee after snatching the weapon of a policeman. Dubey’s killing sent a tough message to the criminals that the vehicle in which they are transported can overturn in UP and they can be killed as well.

In February 2023, the sensational killing of lawyer Umesh Pal by gangster Atiq Ahmad’s henchmen in broad daylight in Prayagraj shocked the people. The then leader of the opposition in the UP assembly Akhilesh Yadav raised question over the law and order in the state. Replying to Akhilesh, Yogi said, “Mafia ko mitti mein mila dengey’ (his government will reduce mafia to dust).”

Lodged in Sabarmati central jail in Gujarat then, gangster Atiq Ahmad was brought to Prayagraj. On April 15, 2023, when Ahmad along with his brother Ashraf was being taken to a local hospital under police escort, the duo were shot dead by three youths.

The case of another gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was no different. Lodged in Ropar jail in Punjab since 2019 in an extortion case, Ansari was shifted to Banda jail in UP in April 2021 on the Supreme Court’s order. He died of a heart attack on March 28, 2024 in the jail.

The end of two notorious gangsters checked organised crime in Uttar Pradesh. The state government confiscated the illegal properties of the gangsters and demolished the structures on the public land winning Yogi the ‘bulldozer baba’ tag. Yogi said, “In U.P., mafias have been either killed or are lodged in jail and several of them have fled the state.”

The CM in a saffron robe executing administrative, political, and religious works caught the imagination of the people. To showcase that Uttar Pradesh was emerging as a land of opportunities under the BJP government, the Yogi government organised the Investors’ Summit in 2018 drawing businessmen and entrepreneurs from across the country.

Along with consolidating his position by Hindutva politics, Yogi Adityanath also fortified the saffron citadel with a slew of development and infrastructure projects in Uttar Pradesh.

After becoming the CM, he brought focus back on Ayodhya from the very first day. He ordered organisation of grand Deepotsav in Ayodhya during Diwali. A few days back, addressing a public meeting in Ayodhya, he said that he was ready to sacrifice power for Ram temple after officers advised him not to go the Ayodhya since matter was sub-judice.

Though his party men have been playing soft in Hindutva, Yogi has taken the lead and set the ball rolling by raising Mathura, Kashi and now Sambhal. The first big political test for Yogi came during the 2019 Lok Sabha election when three regional parties—the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal—having strong roots in the caste politics of Uttar Pradesh joined hand to take on the BJP.

The election was crucial after the shock defeat of the BJP in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypoll in 2018. The victory of the BJP and Apna Dal (S) alliance on 64 out of 80 LS seats consolidated the position of Yogi in the state politics.

As the star campaigner of the BJP, he led the party campaign across the state along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The successful tackling of the Covid pandemic during the last two years of the Yogi 1.0 enhanced his position and established the administrative capability.

Cutting the anti-incumbency factor, the BJP retained power in the 2022 assembly election and broke the jinx that the CM who went to NOIDA lost power and ruling party did not win the second consecutive term.

The BJP bagged 255 seats polling 41.3% votes. On March 25, 2022, Yogi Adityanath created history by taking oath as the CM of Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive term.

Yogi emerged as a big plus for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh as the saffron brigade breached rival strongholds and made inroads into their support base in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2022 assembly elections.

The year 2024 was a turning point in the state politics with Hindutva wave reaching its pinnacle with the grand opening of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Confident of Modi-Yogi charisma in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP went to electoral battle by giving ticket to sitting MPs on the majority of seats.

The Samajwadi Party surprised pollsters by emerging as the singe-largest party in the state. It won 37 Lok Sabha seats. The 6 seats won by the Congress took the INDIA bloc tally to 43. The BJP suffered a setback as its Lok Sabha tally in U.P. was reduced to 33 in 2024 from 62 in 2019 and 71 in 2014.

The defeat of the BJP in Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, where Ayodhya is located, came as a major jolt for the party. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) halted the BJP’s temple chariot.

BJP’s drubbing at the hands of the SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh shifted the focus on ‘Brand Yogi’. There were rumblings in the BJP as senior leaders raised the issue of organisation and government.

After the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced bypolls to state’s 10 assembly seats vacated due to election of the sitting MLAs to Lok Sabha, Yogi Adityanath again geared up for the trial of strength with the opposition parties.

He led the party campaign from the front by announcing that he will be in-charge of the two toughest seats -- Milkipur in Ayodhya district and Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar considered laboratory of Dalit politics.

The resounding victory in the bypolls not only salvaged the position of the BJP but also gave the much-needed boost to Yogi. buoyed by the big win, he slammed the Constitution and reservation narrative of the opposition stating that his government is working on the principles of ‘Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas’—the development of all without discrimination.

Initially on the defensive after 2024 Lok Sabha election debacle, Yogi has bounced back post assembly bypolls through enhanced Hindutva pitch of “batenge to katenge” and Sanatan dharma narrative.

His eight years in office are marked by the successful completion of the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. With 66 crore pilgrims, global recognition and setting new standard, the event has probably created the big Hindu narrative for the BJP and gave thrust to brand Yogi. With massive push on development, welfare and religion front, the BJP has started gearing up for the 2027 assembly election with Yogi as ‘Sarathi’ (charioteer).