5 things you must know about Yogi Aditya Nath!

Firebrand Hindutva leader Yogi Adityanath has took over as new chief minister of largest state of India, Uttar Pradesh, on 19^th March 2017.

PC - Hindustan Times

The controversial leader has always been in controversies for his hate speeches against Muslims. Even though he was not the first choice of BJP, he was elected as the leader of UP’s assembly with two deputies, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma.

Here are five things you must know about Yogi-

1) Early life - His real name is Ajay Singh Bisht. He studied B.sc in mathematics from Garhwal University in Uttarakhand and became Yogi at Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur in eastern UP, Where he is spending his life like a saint, feeding to animals and solving the problems of local public.

2) Political Debut - When his spiritual guru at Gorakhnath temple, Mahant Avaidyanath, quit politics as MP of Gorakhpur, Adityanath, at the age of 24, was elected as an MP of Gorakhpur in 1998. He was the youngest MP in 12^th Lok Sabha and has never lost any election since.

3) Early Activities - Adityanath founded a Hindu Yuva Vahini, a hindutva youth brigade that has been often accused for bringing communal tension in eastern UP. The brigade has been active as cow protection activists in region and put some of the candidates in UP assembly elections as well.

    

4) Head priest at Gorakhnath temple - He was appointed as Mahant of Gorakhnath temple after guru Avaidyanath died in 2014. Yogi was also made the peethadhiswar of Gorakhnath math.

   5) Connect with BJP – Yogi has had a tensed relationship with BJP and powerful Rashtriya Swayamsevak sangh (RSS) for creating a similar Hindutva community. Apart from this he often criticized dilution of BJP’s Hindutva ideology.