10-21-2012, 10:30 PM
PIYUSH SRIVASTAVA LUCKNOW, MARCH 28, 2009 | UPDATED 09:33 IST
Azamgarh seeks to bar Yogi Adityanath
A section of Azamgarh's youth has asked the Election Commission (EC) to forbid BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, from entering the district, alleging he plans to communalise the atmosphere before the Lok Sabha elections.
In its complaint to the EC, the Awami Council for Democracy and Peace, an organisation of young men from Azamgarh, alleged that Yogi, the 37-year-old successor of Gorakhpur's Gorakshnath temple, tries to polarise voters on religious lines during every election.
They also claimed that L.K. Advani's proposed March 28 rally was chalked out by Yogi to fulfil the same agenda and thanked the district administration for disallowing the BJP prime ministerial candidate.
"He (Yogi) is the chief of Hindu Yuva Vahini, an organisation which incites communal hatred on the pretext of pushing its Hindutva agenda. He creates a riotlike situation to gain political mileage during every election. He has also declared that those who didn't subscribe to his Hindutva agenda should leave Azamgarh.
He should be barred from entering the district," the complaint stated.
It claimed Yogi had also spewed venom on April 10 last year during a rally in Azamgarh while campaigning for Ramakant Yadav during the by- polls.
"He spoke against the minority community and called upon the majority community (Hindus) to get ready for a war against them. He also said the district would soon be renamed as Aryangarh," the complaint read.
The complainants, Rajiv Yadav and Shahnawaz Alam, claimed that they had submitted a CD of Yogi's speeches as evidence.
But state BJP president Ramapati Ram Tripathi said, "Such complaints are normal for a popular leader. Yogi is our star campaigner who will address rallies all over eastern UP." He added, "This must be our rivals' plan to malign him." Although the BJP had dumped Yogi during the 2007 assembly elections, when it put the Hindutva campaign on the backburner, he has again become a darling of the saffron party, which has returned to the same agenda.
A practising hathyogi (a stream of yoga), Yogi's emergence in eastern UP coincides with the rise of communal politics in the region.
The Hindu Yuva Vahini is suspected of being involved in more than 24 instances of communal strife since 1998. Yogi's role was also established in the Mau riots of October 2005, in which six people were killed.
On September 7 last year, a youth, Matiullah, was killed during a communal clash after Yogi's procession from the Takia area in Azamgarh.
BJP MLA from Gorakhpur Radhamohan Das is often heard saying: "Eastern UP is a Hindu Rashtra and Yogi is its president and prime minister." But Yogi said, "It is wrong to say that I am into hate politics. But I believe that Hindus shouldn't fear fanatics and give them a befitting reply. My job is to boost the morale of Hindus and make sure that they live a fear- free life.
Those who don't like it are free to register a complaint against me. I don't care." Chief electoral officer Anuj Kumar Bishnoi confirmed that the EC had received the complaint and that it was processing the details. "Action would be initiated against him if charges are found correct," he said.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Azamg...34287.html
Azamgarh seeks to bar Yogi Adityanath
A section of Azamgarh's youth has asked the Election Commission (EC) to forbid BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, from entering the district, alleging he plans to communalise the atmosphere before the Lok Sabha elections.
In its complaint to the EC, the Awami Council for Democracy and Peace, an organisation of young men from Azamgarh, alleged that Yogi, the 37-year-old successor of Gorakhpur's Gorakshnath temple, tries to polarise voters on religious lines during every election.
They also claimed that L.K. Advani's proposed March 28 rally was chalked out by Yogi to fulfil the same agenda and thanked the district administration for disallowing the BJP prime ministerial candidate.
"He (Yogi) is the chief of Hindu Yuva Vahini, an organisation which incites communal hatred on the pretext of pushing its Hindutva agenda. He creates a riotlike situation to gain political mileage during every election. He has also declared that those who didn't subscribe to his Hindutva agenda should leave Azamgarh.
He should be barred from entering the district," the complaint stated.
It claimed Yogi had also spewed venom on April 10 last year during a rally in Azamgarh while campaigning for Ramakant Yadav during the by- polls.
"He spoke against the minority community and called upon the majority community (Hindus) to get ready for a war against them. He also said the district would soon be renamed as Aryangarh," the complaint read.
The complainants, Rajiv Yadav and Shahnawaz Alam, claimed that they had submitted a CD of Yogi's speeches as evidence.
But state BJP president Ramapati Ram Tripathi said, "Such complaints are normal for a popular leader. Yogi is our star campaigner who will address rallies all over eastern UP." He added, "This must be our rivals' plan to malign him." Although the BJP had dumped Yogi during the 2007 assembly elections, when it put the Hindutva campaign on the backburner, he has again become a darling of the saffron party, which has returned to the same agenda.
A practising hathyogi (a stream of yoga), Yogi's emergence in eastern UP coincides with the rise of communal politics in the region.
The Hindu Yuva Vahini is suspected of being involved in more than 24 instances of communal strife since 1998. Yogi's role was also established in the Mau riots of October 2005, in which six people were killed.
On September 7 last year, a youth, Matiullah, was killed during a communal clash after Yogi's procession from the Takia area in Azamgarh.
BJP MLA from Gorakhpur Radhamohan Das is often heard saying: "Eastern UP is a Hindu Rashtra and Yogi is its president and prime minister." But Yogi said, "It is wrong to say that I am into hate politics. But I believe that Hindus shouldn't fear fanatics and give them a befitting reply. My job is to boost the morale of Hindus and make sure that they live a fear- free life.
Those who don't like it are free to register a complaint against me. I don't care." Chief electoral officer Anuj Kumar Bishnoi confirmed that the EC had received the complaint and that it was processing the details. "Action would be initiated against him if charges are found correct," he said.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Azamg...34287.html