Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s model of governance and the Hindutva card he played targeting the temple also helped the BJP in consolidating votes and achieving a landslide victory in the Gujarat assembly polls. As BJP’s star campaigner, Yogi Adityanath addressed 22 public meetings and held three road shows in Gujarat. The BJP won 20 of the 25 seats it campaigned for. However, his contribution is greater than the number of places he visited and held road shows there.
On Thursday, Yogi acknowledged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution to BJP’s victory in Gujarat. In a tweet, he congratulated the prime minister. “ @BJP4India’s big victory in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections is an expression of the immense affection people have for PM Narendra Modi. People voted for development, security and good governance. My heartiest congratulations to PM and all @BJP4Gujarat workers and public for this great victory,” he said in a tweet roughly translated from Hindi.
When Yogi campaigned in Gujarat, his style of functioning came into limelight as people displayed bulldozers and chanted “Bulldozer Baba” and “Jai Sri Ram”. Addressing public meetings, he also praised Modi for being the first Prime Minister of the country to visit Ayodhya for Ram Lalla’s darshan. He targeted Hindutva by referring to the renovation of temples and helped the BJP in consolidating votes.
In public meetings in Dwarka and Kutch districts, he mentioned the establishment of a Ram temple laid by the Prime Minister in Ayodhya (August 5, 2020). He also referred to other Hindu temples.
“People are aware of the renovation of Mahakal temple in Ujjain, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand. Also in Gujarat, the grounds of the Somnath temple have been restored and the Dwarkadish and Amba temples are being renovated. It shows the determination of PM Modi to restore the symbols of faith in the country,” he said.“Jogi did something different from others in Gujarat. Yogi’s campaign helped the BJP in a big way in polarizing Hindu votes in Gujarat,” said Prof SK Dwivedi, former head of the Department of Political Science, Lucknow University.
