Gorakhpur (Sadar) is to be the site of the first Assembly election to be fought by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who had otherwise represented the Lok Sabha seat there. He is also the head of the Gorakhnath Peeth of the Nath Sampradaya, which dominates the culture and society of the area.
In and around the Gorakhnath temple complex the talk is about the margin of victory, while the BJP is looking at the Chief Minister as someone who can deliver the nine Assembly seats in Gorakhpur district.
In these nine seats (eight of which the BJP won in 2017), the party has dropped four of its sitting MLAs a pointer that local anti-incumbency is a factor. In Chauri Chaura, the BJP has conceded one seat to its alliance partner, the Nishad Party, for the same reason. "Though there are nine candidates from our party and alliance partner at all the nine seats in Gorakhpur, the people of Gorakhpur have made up their minds that Maharajji (as Yogi Adityanath is referred to) is contesting from all the seats and will ensure that Maharajji wins all the seats from Gorakhpur," said Shashi Kumar, social media co-convenor for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and currently in the BJP team deputed for the district.
In the Gorakhpur (Sadar) seat itself, the Samajwadi Party has put up Shubhavati Shukla, widow of former BJP U.P. vice president Upendra Shukla, who had contested the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat and lost it in the bypoll after Yogi Adityanath resigned the seat to become the Chief Minister. There was much heartburn in the family after late Mr. Shukla lost the seat, where Yogi Adityanath had won for five consecutive terms. "This is a fight for self respect," said a relative of the family refusing to be named. Ms. Shukla is also from the Brahmin community, which the SP hopes will also highlight the charges of "Thakurwad" or promoting the interests of the Thakur community at the expense of Brahmins that is often laid against Yogi Adityanath.
"Bahar koi kuch bhi kahey, Gorakhnath main Maharaj ji toh Maharaj ji hi rahengey. Jin logon ne Vedon ki richayein pushton se kanthasth ki hon, woh Kamal nahin chhodenge (I dont know about outside of Gorakhpur, but here he is only Maharajji. Those who have, for generations chanted the Vedas by heart, will vote for the lotus)," said Srikant Tripathi, just outside the Gorakhnath Peeth temple.
The settled vote banks of both the BJP and the SP appear to be firmly with their respective parties, the decider, as in much of this election will the intermediate non-Yadav OBC communities. For retaining these voters, not just candidate, the BJP is hoping that the various elements of Yogi Adityanath's persona, as the Maharajji of Gorakhnath Peeth, and as the Chief Minister will help pull them through.
