Yogi's 'Hindutva' pitch fails to click in polls

The hardcore 'Hindutva' pitch of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath failed to deliver in the Assembly polls in five states, even as murmurs of disapproval against his (Yogi) ''style'' of campaigning arose within the saffron party here.

BJP legislator Surendra Singh, however, said the saffron party had paid the price for ''humiliating'' the upper castes.

Adityanath had addressed as many as 74 rallies in the four states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chattisgarh Assembly polls and emerged as one of the most sought after saffron leaders after prime minister Narendra Modi,

The UP chief minister, a strong votary of 'Hindutva', had raised issues of cow slaughter and Ram Temple in his election speeches. ''Those, who are Rambhakts (disciples of Lord Rama), should vote for BJP,'' Adityanath had said at many of his rallies.

Adityanath's remarks like 'Ali and Bajarang Bali' and that Lord Hanuman (monkey god) was a ''Dalit'' had triggered huge controversy and drew flak from several quarters. He had also said that Hyderabad would be rechristened as 'Bhagya Nagar' if BJP is voted to power in Telangana.

A section of the BJP leaders here feel that Adityanath should not have made such remarks and instead focussed on the development issues. ''Raising Ayodhya issue is fine as it is in our agenda but terming Hanuman a Dalit was certainly uncalled for... this remark was not liked by the Dalits and the upper caste Hindus,'' remarked a senior state BJP leader while speaking to DH here.

BJP leader I.P.Singh, however, defended Adityanath saying that the latter was in ''very high demand'' in the Assembly polls and that all his election meetings were well attended. He attributed the dismal show of the party to ''anti-incumbency''.

BJP MLA from Ballia Surendra Singh attributed the defeat to ''humiliation'' of the upper caste by the saffron party by strongly advocating for the SC/ST Act. ''Providing facilities to the SC/ST is good but it must not be done at the cost of the upper castes,'' he said.