Bypolls anywhere are generally meant to go in the kitty of the ruling party but the BJP’s debacle in the Raje regime in Rajasthan bypolls recently, has cautioned the party brass to plug loopholes in picking the right candidates for the two lok Sabha bypolls at Gorakhpur and Phulpur in UP.
This perhaps explains why the BJP brass took the risk of fielding a candidate from Gorakhpur who has no association with Gorakhnath temple - the 'peeth' which has been sending party MP for the last three decades. Elsewhere in Phulpur, the BJP has chosen a relatively young candidate known to be close to Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
BJP candidate from Gorakhpur Upendra Shukla is a non-temple candidate in a seat that has been held by priests of Gorakhnath temple – Mahant Avaidyanath since 1989 and Yogi Adityanath since 1998.
Almost everyone in Gorakhpur is aware of the fact that when Shukla was contesting Kauriram Assembly seat in 1996, Yogi Adityanath had backed a rebel candidate who ensured his defeat in the polls.
But at Phulpur, the party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel - an OBC, who has been state BJP secretary for two consecutive terms.Incidentally, he was also the party’s in-charge for Gorakhpur and was elected as Mayor of Varansi in 2006. Patel is close to Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, who played a key role in getting him a ticket for the bypoll.
Earlier, Mahant Digvijaynath had won the Gorakhpur seat in 1967. The Gorakhnath temple which represents Goraksh Peeth of Thakurs enjoys immense clout in eastern UP politics and it has been an easy win for priests of the temple.
It has been because of Goraksh Peeth that Thakurs have played a prominent role, often sidelining the Brahmins – a fact that has given a sort of permanence to the Thakur-Brahmin feud in the region.
The fielding of Upendra Shukla in Gorakhpur is seen as an attempt by BJP to placate Brahmins, who have been feeling neglected after Yogi became Chief Minister in March last year.
Shukla has been active in district BJP politics and is presently the regional head of BJP. Though a committed party leader, he does not exactly enjoy a compatible relationship with Yogi and is certainly not the person that the CM would like to see as his successor on the seat.
In this scenario, it would be interesting to see how the battle in the by-election unfolds. Since Yogi’s prestige is now directly linked to Gorakhpur seat, he will have to put the past behind him and support Shukla’s candidature. Whether the Thakurs support Shukla candidate and dilute their rivalry with Brahmins, however, remains to be seen.
State BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi said ,”Everybody has faith in Gorakshnath Peeth as Yogiji has been winning from there for the last several years. The party’s oraganisational strength has risen there over the years and the BJP is bound to win. While Shukla is an experienced candidate, Patel is a young nominee.”