In a veiled attack on Yogi Adityanath, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was going to poll-bound Bihar not as a BJP star campaigner but as a “star divider.”
“People would not accept ‘communal figures’,” he argued
Adityanath is one of the BJP’s star campaigners for Bihar.
“He has gone to Bihar not as a star campaigner but as a star divider. The people of Bihar will not accept him. People can never accept communal figures,” Yadav was quoted as saying, alluding to Adityanath at a press conference, accusing the BJP of following a “divide and rule” policy because it is scared of PDA.
In the SP parlance, the acronym “PDA” stands for Pichde (Backward Classes), Dalit, and Alpsankhyak (minorities). Yadav also criticised the state government over worsening traffic and civic conditions in Uttar Pradesh’s cities.
Adityanath is a crowd-puller and also a deeply polarizing figure in Indian politics primarily because of his dual role as a Hindu monk (Mahant of the Gorakhnath Math) and a powerful political leader. He is considered divisive because his way of governance and rhetoric appeals to his base in ways that alienate a large section of critics, particularly those from minority communities and liberal backgrounds.
His supporters hail him as a “tough administrator” who has dramatically improved law and order in Uttar Pradesh, a state previously known for high crime and corruption. They point to infrastructure projects, a crackdown on crime, and successful social welfare schemes as evidence of his effectiveness. For many Hindus, he is an icon of the Hindutva ideology, a leader dedicated to protecting and promoting Hindu culture and interests with integrity and dedication.
Conversely, critics accuse him of being a hardline Hindu nationalist. His government’s policies, like highly publicized “bulldozer” demolitions of properties belonging to alleged criminals (often Muslims), are viewed by critics as politically motivated.
