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Yogi Adityanath to dislodge Congress in Karnataka: Why BJP wants the UP CM

Yogi Adityanath shares a bond with Karnataka, one that the BJP hopes will help them win the 2018 assembly elections

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With assembly elections merely a year away, political parties in Karnataka are getting battle-ready. The Congress is holding strategy meetings, JD(S) is preparing its agenda and the BJP is on a Jana Samparka Abhiyana. While Yeddyurappa is all set to take on Siddaramaiah on the electoral battlefield, the BJP is hoping to make Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath its lethal weapon.

BJP wants Yogi to campaign in Karnataka

BJP wants Yogi to campaign in Karnataka

Given his popularity and the waves he is creating on the national front, the BJP in Karnataka wants Yogi Adityanath to campaign for the 2018 assembly elections. Post elections, Yogi Adityanath is the face of BJP's massive victory in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP hopes to make an example out of it. For the BJP in Karnataka, Yogi Adityanath is a package that represents the party's ideas as a whole. Young, firebrand Hindu leader turned politician who is leading the government from the front. His entry into the campaign fray may also ease the tension between RSS and the BJP that led to differences in the party.

Yogi's mutt connection to Karnataka

Yogi's mutt connection to Karnataka

In Karnataka where religious mutts have a major role to play in electoral politics, bringing in someone who can connect to seers of various mutts will be of advantage to the BJP. Mutts have the ability to influence voters, especially in Karnataka where mutts and seers have followers of specific communities. The current Raja of Kadri Yogeshwar Mutt in Mangaluru was appointed by Yogi Adityanath. The mutt professes the rituals and beliefs of Natha sect to which Yogi Adityanath belongs. Only the Akhil Bharatvarshiya Avadhut Bhesh Barah Panth chairperson can select the Raja, Mahanth or Peer for the respective mutts. Yogi Adityanath was the chief of the Akhil Bharatvarshiya Avadhut Bhesh Barah Panth from 15 years. Thus he has selected the Raja of the Kadri Mutt twice, so far.

Strong Vokkaliga mutt's connection to Yogi Adityanath

Strong Vokkaliga mutt's connection to Yogi Adityanath

Another influential mutt, the Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt also shares a connection with Yogi Adityanath. Balagangadharanatha Swamiji's temple also practices and professes the Natha traditions. Moreover, Yogi Adityanath's mentor Aviadyanatha and Bhairavaikya Balagangadharanatha were close. The current seer of the mutt, Nirmalananda Swami and Yogi Adityanath have met earlier. While the mutt does not need an external factor to extend support to the BJP, Yogi Adityanath's presence during the campaign, the BJP hopes, manages to woo not just supporters of the mutt but entire communities that the mutt represents.

The unabashed Hindutva face

The unabashed Hindutva face

The firebrand politician is also a Hindu hardliner. Despite the BJP claiming that development in the only agenda that they would go into elections with, Hindutva has come to be an integral identity of the BJP, even on the election front. A man in saffron, at the helm of affairs in the biggest state in the country, is a major boost to the big Hindutva agenda of the BJP. Given that many pro-Hindu activists have been killed in Karnataka in the recent past, Yogi Adityanath's campaigning may give the BJP an edge in driving Hindu votes. The Rudresh murder case where the NIA has charge sheeted members of the SDPI and PFI has proved to be an ammunition and Yogi Adityanath's presence during the campaign will give the BJP exactly what it wants to win votes.

The Yogi factor

The Yogi factor

While some called it antics, Yogi Adityanath's approach to illegal slaughter houses, gutka products in government officers, plastic ban, picking up brooms himself to push officials towards a cleaner Uttar Pradesh have not gone unnoticed. "He is a leader who is affecting change and having him campaign in Karnataka will be a huge advantage. While we would like him to campaign in Karnataka, the decision lies with the senior leadership," said a BJP office-bearer. With Yogi Adityanath, the BJP also hopes to consolidate Hindu votes.

Chief Minister v/s Chief Minister?

Chief Minister v/s Chief Minister?

With infighting in the BJP playing out in public, political observers were of the opinion that 2018 assembly elections in Karnataka would probably be fought between Siddaramaiah and none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With BJP leaders like B S Yeddyurappa and K S Eshwarappa burying their differences, for now, the fight is back to being between Yeddyurappa and Siddaramaiah. With Yogi Adityanath's entry into the campaign fray, BJP is likely to project him as the 'successful, BJP chief Minister, an example of leadership that would follow if BJP was elected to power.

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