(Gulf News
April 1, 2007)
Exodus of Hindu holy men worries BJP
by Ajay Jha, Chief Correspondent
New Delhi: The number of saffron-clad "holy men" is dwindling fast in the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Yogi Adityanath, a saffron-clad lawmaker from Gorakhpur, is the latest among a long list of holy men to rebel against the party.
The BJP has started the experiment of bringing religious leaders into active politics in order to emerge the first choice of the majority Hindu voters. The move paid rich political dividends with the party that had won just two seats in the 1984 general elections and ruled the country for six years between 1998 and 2004.
Adityanath, 34, parted ways with the BJP recently and has announced his decision to field nearly 75 candidates across 14 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh during the state assembly elections under the banner of the nearly defunct Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha.
Presence
Although Adityanath is confident that at least 10 of his nominees would make it to the new legislative assembly, political analysts feel the presence of his candidates could ensure defeat of about 15 BJP nominees. Besides Adityanath, the BJP also has to contend with saffron-clad former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharati whose fledgling Bharatiya Janashakti party is also contesting state polls on its own. Bharati's party cost the BJP at least three seats in the just concluded polls in neighbouring Uttarakhand ensuring that the BJP fell short of a simple majority.
Interestingly, the religious leaders have left the BJP accusing it of compromising on the cause of the Hindus.
Provoke
Sachidanand Sakshi Maharaj was the first saffron-clad leader to rebel against the party. The former Farrukhabad lawmaker caused enough damage to his erstwhile party by provoking former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh to float his own party prior to the 2002 state polls leading to the BJP losing power in the state. Singh has since returned to the BJP and is being projected as its chief ministerial candidate.
Swami Chinmayanand was the next to quit the BJP after serving as the junior home minister while the BJP ruled at the centre.
While the BJP is putting on a brave front saying Adityanath would not make much difference, Tarun Vijay, editor of Panchjanya, the Hindi magazine of the BJP's ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh agrees that split of Hindu votes could damage the BJP to some extent.
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