Yogi Adityanath's journey from a monk to a political heavyweight

Yogi Adityanatha aka Bisht had joined the Ram Mandir movement in his student life itself. It was during the Ram temple movement in the 90s that he met Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhnath temple. On Avaidyanath's direction, Bisht reached Gorakhpur without informing his parents and decided to become a monk.

Lucknow: When Yogi Adityanath takes oath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive term on Friday, he will create history, break the jinx and belie myths. He is scheduled to take oath for the second term, along with around 50 ministers at Lucknow's Ekana Stadium at 4 pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states and senior BJP leaders are expected to attend the oath-taking ceremony. Around 85 thousand people will be attending the grand ceremony.

He has created a history by becoming the first Chief Minister in 37 years to return to power with an overwhelming majority. By the time he completes his second term, he will become the longest-serving Chief Minister of the country's most populous state. Yogi Adityanath's return to power has also broken the infamous Noida jinx that kept Chief Ministers away from the district.

This 'Noida jinx' came to the fore after the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Vir Bahadur Singh was forced to resign in 1988, only a few days after he visited Noida. Vir Bahadur Singh's successor Narain Dutt Tiwari lost power in the 1989 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. He also visited Noida as the Chief Minister. The two Noida-jinxed losses weighed heavily on the minds of the Chief Ministers subsequently and they all favoured skipping Noida visits.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh stayed away from Noida as Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam Singh Yadav was the first Chief Minister following the ouster of Vir Bahadur Singh and Narain Dutt Tiwari after Noida visits in the 1980s to bypass Noida. That was Mulayam Singh Yadav's first term as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister from 1989 to 1991. Rajnath Singh, too, inaugurated Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyover as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister from Delhi, not Noida in 2001. Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav skipped the Asian Development Bank (ADB) summit that had then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the chief guest in Noida in 2013.

Earlier in 2012, Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated the Yamuna Expressway from Lucknow even though the 165-km highway runs from Greater Noida to Agra, about 350-km from Lucknow. Akhilesh Yadav had become Chief Minister after Mayawati lost power in 2012. She had incidentally visited Noida as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister in 2011 to inaugurate the Dalit Smarak Sthal, ignoring the Noida jinx.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, visited Noida to inaugurate Delhi Metro's Magenta Line on December 25, 2017. Modi had then scoffed at the Noida jinx saying, "Yogi Adityanath deserves adulation for dismissing superstition that a Chief Minister should not visit Noida." The BJP led by Modi won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Yogi Adityanath, too kept, visiting Noida even during the election campaign. In November 2021, Yogi Adityanath told a public gathering during the inauguration of the Jewar airport, "My predecessors used to shy away from visiting this district as their own life and position of power were more important to them."

Adityanath's journey from a monk to politician:

Adityanath was born in a Rajput family as Ajay Singh Bisht to Anand Singh Bisht and Savitri Devi on 5 June 1972 in Panchur village of Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand and became Yogi Adityanath after reaching Gorakhpur. He passed the 12th examination from Bharat Mandir Inter College, Rishikesh in 1989 and completed his B Sc in Mathematics from Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in 1992. Bisht had joined the Ram Mandir movement in his student life itself. It was during the Ram temple movement in the 90s that he met Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhnath temple.

On Avaidyanath's direction, Bisht reached Gorakhpur without informing his parents and decided to become a monk. Here Mahant Avaidyanath rechristened Bisht as Yogi Adityanath. Four years after making him the successor to the throne of the Mahant of Gorakhnath temple, Mahant Avaidyanath also made Yogi Adityanath his political successor.

Mahant Avaidyanath from Gorakhpur came to Parliament after being elected four times. Adityanath reached the Lok Sabha by winning from this seat at the age of 26 in 1998 and then became an MP from Gorakhpur seat for 5 consecutive times (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014). In the 2017 UP Assembly elections, the BJP got a thumping majority and the credit for the victory was given to Yogi Adityanath.

On 19 March 2017 at the age of 45, Yogi Adityanath took oath as the 21st Chief Minister of UP making a maiden return to power by an incumbent Chief Minister in the history of UP elections.

Ministers to take the oath with Yogi:

1. Keshav Prasad Maurya - Deputy CM
2. Swatantra Dev Singh – Deputy CM
3. Shrikant Sharma
4. Brajesh Pathak
5. Pankaj Singh
6. Bhupendra Choudhary
7. Laxmi Narayan Choudhary
8. Rajesh Choudhary
9. Suresh Rana
10. Suresh Khanna
11. Mahendra Singh
12. Siddharth Nath Singh
13. Baby Rani Maurya
14. Satish Mahana
15. Aseem Arun
16. Anil Rajbhar
17. Ashutosh Tandon
18. Surya Pratap Shahi
19. Nand Gopal Nandi
20. Aditi Singh
21. Rajeshwar Singh
22. Gulabo Devi
23. Aparna Yadav
24. Arvind Kumar Sharma
25. Ashish Patel
26. Basit Ali

It is believed that the Yogi Cabinet has been prepared to keep in view the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The way backward classes were given importance in ticket distribution, is expected to be followed in the Cabinet as well, sources said. Apart from this, preference will also be given to Brahmin and Dalit faces added the sources.

Apna Dal (S)'s Ashish Patel, who is Anupriya Patel's husband, will become the Minister from allies. According to sources, around 48 ministers can take oath today, along with the Chief Minister-designate. BSP chief Mayawati, Congress party's national president Sonia Gandhi, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, have been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath besides, RLD President Jayant Chaudhary, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The following Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers are expected to participate in the event:

1. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
2. Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister Haryana
3. Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh
4. MN Viren Singh, Chief Minister, Manipur
5. Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister Himachal Pradesh
6. Biplab Devji, Chief Minister Tripura
7. Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister Goa
8. Himmat Biswa Sharma, Chief Minister of Assam
9. Basavaraj Bommai, Chief Minister Karnataka
10. Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat
11. Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand
12. Tarakeswar Singh, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
13. Renu Devi, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
14. Y Patton, Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland
15. Chonameen, Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh
16. Vishnu Dev Varma, Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura

Industrialists attending the swearing-in ceremony:

1. Tata Group- N Chandrasekaran
2. Ambani Group- Mukesh Ambani
3. Aditya Birla Group- Kumar Mangalam Birla
4. Adani Group- Gautam Adani
5. Mahindra Group- Anand Mahindra
6. Hiranandani Group- Darshan Hira Nannadani
7. Lulu Group- Yusuf Ali
8. Torrent Group- Sudhir Mehta
9. Goenka Group- Sanjeev Goenka
10. Lodha Group- Abhinand Lodha

People from the film world are also expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony. According to sources, Bollywood celebrities, including Anupam Kher, Kangana Ranaut and Raju Srivastava also make it to the event. Along with this, many big industrialists will be present at the ceremony.

Also, 300 Hindu saints, including Baba Ramdev, have also been invited to the event as per sources. Nine temples of Lucknow

1. Shanidev Temple, Behind Hotel Clark Avadh,
2. Shri Durga Ji Mandir, Kundri Rakabganj
3. Mankameshwar Temple
4. Hanuman Setu Mandir, Bandha Road
5. Mouni Baba Mandir, Alambagh
6. Kaneshwar Temple
7. Budheshwar Mahadev Temple
8. Bhootnath Temple, Bhootnath Market (Great decoration)
9. Lok Kalyaneshwar Temple (grand decoration)