New Delhi: Hours after the BJP's landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, posters appeared in a Bareilly village that put everyone on edge. According to a report, the posters came up in over two dozen locations in Jianagla village, around 70 kms from Bareilly city, asking Muslims to "leave immediately".
Posters in the village, which has over 2,000 Muslim residents, proclaimed that they would "do in UP what Donald Trump has done in America".
Brijesh Singh, BJP MLA from Deoband, demanded later in the week that the name of the Islamic seminary town be changed to 'Dev Vrandha'. On Wednesday night, just four days after the election results came out; Chacheri village in Bulandshahr was on the edge after a group of men allegedly scaled the dome of a mosque in a bid to hoist a BJP flag on top of it.
The Bulandshahr district magistrate claimed that all was well and the situation was under control. However, some would say the djinn was already out of the bottle.
These incidents happened before Yogi Adityanath, BJP's firebrand Gorakhpur MP, was anointed the chief minister by the BJP Legislative Party. While BJP leaders have said the maintenance of law and order is going to be the biggest challenge for the next government, Yogi's real challenge will be to curtail Hindutva muscle flexing in the hinterland. For two decades he has cultivated a constituency, and those might expect him to deliver on all those polarising statements.
And then, there is the promise of Ram Temple in Ayodhya that Yogi has aggressively supported. In the run-up to UP polls. He had said this much: "The hurdles on the path of construction of a grand Ram temple will be gradually removed and its construction will soon start in Ayodhya."
He may have to deliver on that front although the matter is subjudice. Most importantly, he may have to keep a check on the fringe who might find new strength in his elevation.
Adityanath’s track record of being a polarising figure will not help him in his job.
In 2005, he led a “purification drive” to “re-convert” Christians to Hinduism. In 2007, he staged a “non-violent dharna” during a Moharram procession in Gorakhpur.
However, it was alleged that inflammatory speeches were made during the demonstrations and that some of his followers allegedly set fire to a nearby mazar. Adityanath later broke a curfew and was jailed.
Following his imprisonment, riots spread across Gorakhpur district. After the lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri, Adityanath had demanded that a case of cow slaughter be registered against the victim's family.
Making matters even more complicated is the Hindu Yuva Vahini, Aditynath's personal "youth wing". After Akhlaq's lynching, when the situation in Bisada village was tense, the outfit offered to distribute guns to the Hindus of the village. The outfit was also accused of promoting enmity during the 2007 Gorakhpur riots.
The message so far, however, seems encouraging. Much like Donald Trump after his inauguration, Adityanath promised he would be the CM for "all the people". He repeated the 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas' (development for all) slogan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP MLA Dharam Singh Saini, who was inducted into the Adityanath cabinet on Sunday, told News 18 that minorities need not worry. "When Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of Sabka Saath, sabka vikaas, he is talking to all the people of the country. The CM will act along the same lines. The minorities of Uttar Pradesh should be assured that no harm will come to them under the BJP government. The only people who need to fear are criminals," he said.
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