Gorakhpur, Phulpur aside, why Yogi Adityanath matters in Karnataka

Yogi Adityanath will address 35 rallies in Karnataka from May 3 onwards. This would mean that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister would address at least 4 to 5 rallies a day as part of his hectic schedule.

Yogi who was seen a lot during the opening of the campaign would return to Karnataka towards the fag end and in him, the BJP would hope to attain the religious connect across the state.

Yogi would take part in rallies and road shows and the BJP is currently in the process of working out the locations. While exit polls have shown that the BJP would bag a majority of the Lingayat votes, in Yogi the party expects to go that extra mile.

Yogi is expected to reach out to a large number of Lingayats and this would help the BJP raise its tally. During the first phase of the campaign, Yogi had drawn impressive crowds. Looking at the kind of traction he drew, the BJP had decided to include him in its list of star campaigners.

However, after the Gorakhpur and Phulpur results, there was a shadow cast over Yogi. Many had said that the BJP is likely to use less of him in the elections. These losses, however, did not deter the Karnataka which had in early April itself sought for nine days of Yogi. Senior BJP leaders tell OneIndia that he is next to only Narendra Modi in terms of appeal. He has a complete sway over the crowd. Yogi on the other has a direct connection with the crowd and in one of the rallies the people erupted in euphoria when he said, " those who want a Ram Temple must vote for the BJP."

The connect with the youth is also another factor that the BJP has taken into consideration. In the coastal areas, the Youth are big fans of his and some of his rallies before the date of the elections were announced are proof of this. Moreover Yogi will be campaigning in the state at the same time Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing rallies. The BJP feels that it would work as a double edge sword for the party with two of its best campaigners in the state.

The BJP is however confident of Yogi's appeal and being a religious leader himself, he could add the additional Hindutva dosage to the campaign.

On the other hand, the BJP would also bank very heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM would be addressing 16 rallies in 8 days starting April 29 onwards.