This year in Diwali Ayodhya was decorated with thousands of lights and a chopper carried Ram and Sita. It symbolised the essence of Deepavali when Ram&Sita returned to Ayodhya. As a culture enthusiast I felt happy because for years Ayodha was neglected in terms of its significance with the Hindu belief. The development was stalled there. A city torn between two faiths was limping for support. The newly Elected CM Yogi Adityanath was immediatiedly hailed in social media as Hindu Hriday Samrat and parallels drawn between him and PM Modi some even saying that he is Modi 2.0.
The state of health infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh even after seven months of Yogi government accession to power says a different story altogether in terms of governance. It speaks that Yogi is nowhere near Modi in terms of governance .
My careful research into twitter handle of Yogi Adityanath reveals that most of( around 60%) of his tweets have been related to religion, religious figure and Gorakhpur mutt.
While we cant deny that religious activities form an essential part of any government , we have to realise that religion and religious activities cannot be the dominating factor in a modern state. Issues like healthcare, education, infrastructure should dominate the governance agenda.
It was because of sheer neglect of healthcare, education, and public facilities that BSP and Samajwadi Party were ousted and BJP was given a huge mandate because people wanted Good Governance, one which Modi promised and people hoped that UP would be developed in line with Modi’s Gujarat.
Selection of Yogi as the CM after election came as a surprise and shock for many who voted for Modi’s idea of Good Governance. However, people remained jubilant as Yogi promised to be an able administrator with 20+ years of Parliamentary experience.
These are early days, not 1 year has been completed by the Yogi government and any harsh critique would be unfair to him. However he should quickly move from religious governance to real issues of governance like worsening healthcare facilities and law and order issues
Modi too was a “Hindu Hriday Samrat” but he is what he is today not because of religion but due to his record of exemplary governance . Ram Statue in Ayodhya can wait for five years, prioritizing healthcare and law&Order is the need of the hour. Countering previous narrative of Haj subsidy with Statue of Hindu gods can be a good strategy for Vote bank politics but it will result into competitive religious politics. What UP needs is skills of Yogi to reform the state bureaucracy , law and order.