Wah Taj! Adityanath exhibits political maturity beyond his years
Two young, firebrand BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh, one from the West and the other from the East of the State, have been setting the national political agenda over the past couple of days in very different ways. In a sense, the unbearable triteness of being Sangeet Som and the importance of being Yogi, or more correctly Mahant, Adityanath (he took over as the head of the Gorakhnath Math from Mahant Avaidyanath on his passing in 2014) were juxtaposed earlier this week and the growing political maturity of the latter came through in the process. Som's entirely unnecessary comments on the provenance of the Taj Mahal and the Mughal Emperor who commissioned the building of the monument, while his personal views as the Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to clarify and not endorsed in any manner by the party, needed a political response from within the saffron fold as they were threatening to degenerate into a tu-tu, main-main discourse with that other arch Constitutionalist Asaduddin Owaisi joining the war of words with him and, it must be conceded, getting the better of him. Enter, the UP Chief Minister with a carefully calibrated, unobjectionable statement that showed he is acquiring that most essential skill successful politicians need — the ability to elide articulating a sentiment that in this case he may have sympathy for or even have supported in the past without upsetting those who may subscribe to that point of view, even while assuring all citizens of his administration's intent not to let the ongoing debate on what to emphasise in which historical period be reflected in everyday governance. It's a tough balancing act but one that Yogi Adityanath has indicated he knows he will have to perform as was apparent in his emphasis that “the construction of the Taj Mahal is a result of the labours, blood and sweat of Bharat Mata's workers and sons… it is immaterial who built it.” It was a perfect illustration of how he seems consciously to be avoiding getting sucked into a controversy about Medieval India's social accommodation and religious repression in equal measure. Equally significant was his follow-up comment when he said the “true meaning of Ram Rajya nis a home for all... and electricity and lPG cylinders for every household.”
UP Governor Ram Naik saying simultaneously that the Taj Mahal "is the pride of the country" shows that sensible statecraft is verily an acquired skill. The touching gesture of the UP Central Shia Waqf Board in announcing the gifting of ten silver arrows for the quiver of the proposed statue of lord Ram at Ayodhya in the name of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb also came on the same day as Adityanath's intervention, and coordinated or not it was very apt. The most important signal sent out by Adityanath is that whatever his personal views or those of other saffron activists may be regarding what they consider a skewed emphasis in the teaching of history and the ideological debates that are raging around it, the State will not endorse any move that would play into the hands of those who would like nothing more than to promote the perception of an antediluvian administration that cares neither for India's reputation nor its architectural marvels.