If this happens, Yogi will become the first CM of the state to enter the electoral battle in the last 18 years. East, Soft Contested Gunnaur by-election in 2004. Yogi’s predecessors Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati were members of the Upper House.
BJP sources told TOI that a meeting of office-bearers in New Delhi on Wednesday agreed to field Yogi from Ayodhya. The final decision will be taken by the central leadership which includes PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President JP Nadda and others.
Ayodhya is the centerpiece of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP has got much-needed impetus after the Supreme Court’s verdict paving the way for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, ending a 500-year-old dispute with Muslim parties.
It also has a close association with the Gorakshanath Peeth, the seat of the Yogi’s Math. Both his guru Mahant Avaidyanath and his guru Mahant Digvijaynath were leaders of the Ram temple movement in their time. Mahant Digvijaynath played a major role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in 1949.
Subsequently, Mahant Avaidyanath also actively participated in the Ayodhya movement and even became the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-backed president of the high-powered committee for the construction of the Ram temple.
Political observers say that if Yogi’s candidature from Ayodhya is finalised, it will take the BJP’s Hindutva agenda further. Sources said that after Ayodhya, the next choice for him could be Gorakhpur, but added that given an option, he will contest from Ayodhya.
If Yogi contests the elections, he will be the first CM in 15 years to directly contest the assembly elections. Neither Mayawati, who was the CM from 2007 to 2012, nor Akhilesh, who was in office from 2012 to 2017, contested the assembly elections. Both chose the Upper House. Yogi too – who was an MP at the time of Abhishek in 2017 – did not contest the assembly elections and chose to become a member of the Legislative Council.
According to the Constitution, the Chief Minister of a State must be a member of the Legislative Assembly or Council, if he is present in that State. This time also Mayawati will not contest the elections while there is no clarity about Akhilesh’s decision. He has left the decision on his party.
Ayodhya has been on his target since Yogi assumed power. Even when the ownership dispute was pending in the Supreme Court, he left no stone unturned to develop infrastructure in Ayodhya to promote religious tourism. From the widening of the road to the beautification of the ghats, he made every effort for the development of the temple town. He also changed the name of the district from Faizabad to Ayodhya.
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