The ‘Yogi Model’ of UP vs the ‘Modi Model’ of Gujarat
Asia News Agency
The use of bulldozers in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area to remove encroachments last week, writes DK Singh (Political Editor, ThePrint) “amounts to the Centre adopting Yogi’s (CM of Uttar Pradesh) stylebook of governance and politics. It is, therefore, no surprise that the BJP-led governments in states, which earlier followed the ‘Gujarat model of development’, are now turning to the ‘Yogi model’. The BJP-led Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat governments beginning to use bulldozers and Karnataka and Uttarakhand vowing to follow suit is only illustrative.
“The irony is that……. the UP CM is focusing on the ‘Modi model’ of Gujarat.”
A development oriented UP chief minister
Significantly, the UP CM’s second term is looking different from his first term though. His first term in office , writes Singh “was marked by a persistent endeavour to crystallise his image as a Hindutva warrior…..The last four weeks of Yogi 2.0 have been serious attempts to identify priorities, if not course-correct….He has been setting priorities and agendas at a hectic pace. Even before taking oath as CM for the second time, Yogi initiated the process of appointing a consultant to make UP a trillion-dollar economy……”
Strict instruction to maintain communal harmony: Yogi Adityanath has learnt hard lessons from this election. “It’s curious that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal (Hindutva outfits) activists went into hibernation in Uttar Pradesh when their counterparts in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, and even Odisha were carrying out….(religious) processions…..”
Strict instructions have been issued to the police to maintain law and order and communal harmony. “Reining in VHP and Bajrang Dal activists in UP, just like Modi had done in Gujarat, is a significant indicator of how Yogi is trying to chart out a different path in his second term….”
The challenges ahead
But he has testing times ahead. After a long gap, BJP leaders have been speaking about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, “hailing it for giving citizenship to religious minorities facing persecution in neighbouring countries.” Similarly, “the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is also back in the political discourse…”
"If the Sangh gives a go-ahead for the UCC, Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states would soon have to follow suit. Yogi Adityanath has been attempting an image makeover in the past month, but how long he would be able to keep the genie in the bottle is a million-dollar question.”
