When Yogi Adityanath was appointed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, the Kadri Math in Mangalore erupted in celebrations, an acknowledgement of a deep connection between the Nath sampradaya (tradition) headed by him and the math, an offshoot of it.
Last week, Mr. Adityanath addressed a heavily attended public meeting in the coastal town in Karnataka. His draw as a campaigner for the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections in the State was apparent, and the BJP is determined to leverage it.
G.B. Harish, writer and critic, says that while the Nath tradition’s links with the Kadri Math are well known (two years ago, as Mahant of the Akhil Bharat Varshiya Awaduth Yogi Mahasabha Bhek Bhraha Panth, Yogi Adityanath helped elect the head of the Math), it is Gorakhpur’s connections with the Adichunchanagiri Math in the Old Mysore region that have assumed significance in these polls.
“In the 12th century, we have accounts of Nath yogis from Gorakhpur, including Gorakhnath, travelling across the country and in Karnataka to spread the teachings of their sect, the largely Shaivite traditions of the Nath sampradaya or Navanatha sampradaya as it is also known. They established Maths in various places, on the coast, as in the Kadri Math but also in the plateau area of Old Mysore. Legend has it that the Adichunchanagiri Math has an association with the Nath sampradaya ,” he told The Hindu .
“In the 1950s and 1960s however, as the identity politics of the Vokkaliga community was developing, the Math became influential because of its presence in the community, which has both Vaishnavite and Shaivite traditions,” he said.
Mr. Adityanath and BJP chief Amit Shah have visited the Math in the run-up to the polls.
The BJP counts on the support of the Lingayat community, especially in areas in the north of the State dubbed as “Bombay Karnataka” (part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency that were ceded to Karnataka after Independence). The RSS and the BJP have a strong presence in the coastal areas of the State as well.
Congress bastion
Old Mysore, however, is still considered the bastion of the Congress and some parts remain loyal to the Janata Dal(S), led by the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. As one political commentator said, it is the stronghold of Vokkaliga and non-BJP politics.
The BJP is reaching out to the Vokkaliga community more vociferously than before also as a reaction to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s tacit encouragement to sections of the Lingayat community that have been demanding minority status. The demand has put the BJP in a fix in the State. But do medieval connections, despite their institutionalisation, hold sway in modern electoral politics? “There is a lot of interest in Yogi Adityanath in the area. Identity politics is never static and is also always being recalibrated,” says Dr. Harish, who also says that he has been requested by the Adichunchanagiri Math to translate renowned Hindi writer Hazari Prasad Dwivedi’s multi-volume work on the Nath Sampradaya .
“There is a renewed interest in the Nath Sampradaya traditions more specifically in Yogi Adityanath himself after became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Kannada writer Yudhishtir’s biography of Yogi Adityanath is selling quite well,” he said.
The BJP has charted an extensive travel programme in Karnataka for Mr. Adityanath. On March 19, he will address a rally at Surathkal in coastal Karnataka. In the scrum of identity politics, the past is a palimpsest.
