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Updated: Aug 02, 2019 22:51 IST

Much before the results of 2019 general elections were announced, many in political circles in Uttar Pradesh were busy speculating about the fate of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

And although a confident Yogi kept saying the party would better its 2014 tally of 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, those predicting a change of leadership in the state were sceptical about the BJP repeating its splendid performance because the SP-BSP-RLD had come together.

The arithmetic favoured the alliance but the chemistry failed them. The BJP won 62 seats in UP in the 2019 general elections. That silenced Yogi’s detractors.

And now, much to the chagrin of many seasoned leaders in the BJP, the party high command’s message is loud and clear: Yogi Adityanath will lead the charge in the state assembly elections in 2022.

A senior party leader said, “The BJP’s functioning has changed. In the 1990s, the party worked on caste combinations while selecting the chief minister and the party president. When Kalyan Singh was the chief minister, the party preferred a Brahmin face. But now the BJP high command prefers a leader with organisational capabilities for the party post and a popular face for CM.”

Recently, at the ground-breaking ceremony, Amit Shah had praised Yogi Adityanath. “Many eyebrows were raised over our decision to appoint him as CM as he lacked administrative skills. He proved all wrong. I am confident Yogi will make the state number one in two areas — tourism and infrastructure — before UP polls.” Shah, also the union home minister, praised Yogi for improved law and order, which, however, remains a matter of public concern.

A senior party leader said, “ Yogi fits into the Sangh Parivar’s scheme of things with the Ram temple likely to become a reality before 2022 polls with Muslims, by and large, reconciled to a negotiated settlement of the dispute.”

It will be a feather in Narendra Modi’s cap if the centuries-old Ram temple issue is amicably settled but it is Yogi Adityanath who will execute it.

More than his administrative acumen, Yogi is recognised for his status in the religious world, He is the head of the Gorakhnath Peeth.

However, his political stature in the BJP grew after becoming the chief minister. The Sangh Parivar groomed him as a star campaigner, next to only Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

The 2022 polls, contested under his leadership, will be an acid test for him; he will have to speed up development as well as improve the law and order situation. The beginning of the construction of the Ram temple will only help his cause.