Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has kicked off the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign for urban local bodies from Saharanpur, raising questions as to why he starts all the election campaigns — be it Lok Sabha or assembly — from Saharanpur only.
Is the chief minister superstitious? He started the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2022 Vidhan Sabha election campaign from Saharanpur and it was a success. Does he have a belief that he will succeed again if he starts a campaign from this region?
A close aide of the chief minister said that Yogi Adityanath is not superstitious, but has great faith in Maa Shakumbari Devi.
“Had he been superstitious, he would not have set foot on the soil of Noida because a few former chief ministers believed that if they visited Noida, they would not become the CM again,” he said. He pointed out that Yogi is a devotee of Maa Shakumbhari Devi and prefers to start any important task with her blessings.
“During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, CM Yogi started his election campaign from Saharanpur. He himself mentioned in a tweet that he would start the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Saharanpur,” the close aide of Yogi said.
“With the blessings of Maa Shakumbhari, I will start a challenge to free the state from the politics of dynasty. I will start BJP’s election campaign from this district famous for wood carving. I am sure the people here will ensure our victory,” Yogi was quoted as saying in a tweet.
This urban local body election is important for BJP because it is the last election in UP before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. In the last civic elections, the BJP had won 14 out of 16 mayoral seats and this time Shahjahanpur is added to the list.
The top BJP leadership has entrusted CM Yogi and party’s state president Bhupendra Chaudhary with the task of winning big in all 17 municipal corporations as well as in municipalities and nagar panchayats.
Elections to 17 municipal corporations, 199 municipal councils and 517 nagar panchayats are to be held. As per the new notification, 288 seats are reserved for women, 205 for OBCs, 110 for Scheduled Caste, and two for Scheduled Tribe candidates.
Why is Saharanpur special?
The first biggest reason is the 41.96 per cent Muslim population in the district. The second big reason is that it has Darul Uloom Deoband. The seminary has the status of being one of the major centres of Islamic education in Asia. Lakhs of students who have studied at Darul Uloom Deoband are spread across the country and even abroad.
This is the reason why despite maintaining a distance from politics in Darul Uloom, politicians keep coming and going there. The third reason is the presence of Siddhapeeth of Maa Shakumbhari Devi.
