In March 2017, when Bharatiya Janata Party won the elections in Uttar Pradesh with a landslide margin, Yogi Adityanath was picked as the new chief minister of the state. Eyebrows were raised as to how the Mahant of a temple with no administrative experience could effectively perform as the chief minister of this politically crucial state. Almost six years later, the same Mahant, clad in a saffron robe, created a record and became the longest-serving chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath completed five years and 347 days in the office on March 1 this year, and outlasted Dr Sampurnanand of the Congress, who had served the office for five years and 345 days from 1954 to 1960. Besides, Dr Sampurnanand, national president of Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, too had completed a full term of five years and four days. Even Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati had completed a full tenure as her regime lasted for four years and 307 days from 2007 to 2012.
However, Govind Ballabh Pant, the first chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, held the post for the longest period of time without any interruption -- seven years and nine months. But in his first term from April 1, 1946, to January 23, 1950, he served as the chief minister of the United Provinces. When UP came into existence on January 24, 1950, he became the chief minister again and continued from January 24, 1950 to December 28, 1954 -- a tenure of four years and 336 days.
In terms of cumulative tenure, Mayawati, who held the office of chief minister of Uttar Pradesh four times, is in the lead with a total run of more than seven years. During his three terms as chief minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav held office for little under seven years.
Yogi Adityanath completes six years in office on March 25 and if he completes the full second tenure, which will last till March 2027, he will become the longest-serving chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in all formats.
This achievement of Yogi Adityanath is unprecedented as he has the image (construed by his rivals) of being as a Muslim hater. When the BJP named him as chief minister, questions were raised and Muslims reacted sharply. They feared that Yogi had been selected to strengthen the party’s Hindutva Raj in Uttar Pradesh.
“The mantra of this government is sabka saath, sabka vikas aur sabka vishwas and we are sticking to it. There is no differentiation between Hindus and Muslims. The government is working for the welfare of all sections of society. When rations were distributed among people during the pandemic, was there any partiality? Did you receive a complaint that Hindus got ration and Muslims were denied it,” Yogi Adityanath told this reporter recently.
In the last six years, Yogi Adityanath has been able to win the hearts of the people because of improvements in law and order and infrastructure facilities with the result that the state has become number one in programme implementation and is now the most sought-after destination of investors. This is evident when memorandums of understanding of projects worth Rs 33 lakh crore were signed during the recently held Global Investors’ Summit.
“Today we have managed to create an atmosphere of development, trust and good governance in the state. We have set new standards of development in every field. This has helped us to change the perception of people towards UP,” the chief minister said.
In his speeches now, the chief minister talks about the change in perception. This is justified because his government has implemented infrastructure development projects and has taken strict action against criminals to remove fear from the minds of the masses. Doors of employment opportunities have been opened despite the novel coronavirus pandemic that has delayed many projects.
People talk about a changed UP because the government, with its zero tolerance policy towards crime and criminals, has realised the dream of ‘apradh mukt Uttar Pradesh’ in the last six years.
“Our government gives priority to development while there are others who delve in divisive politics and try to obstruct the development of the country. But we are committed to moving ahead so that we may fulfill the dreams of the youth,” the chief minister said addressing a public meeting in Mahoba recently.
