'Modi is making 'new India' in UP': Parties react to Yogi Adityanath being named UP CM

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to appoint Hindutva hardliner Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh chief minister has drawn an avalanche of reactions from opposition parties.

Here are some of them:

Congress

Veerappa Moily called it the “biggest assault” on secularism, but the party’s official reaction was tempered with caution as it said it will act as “watchdog of people’s interest”.

“It is a big assault on secularism in the country. Maybe, the BJP or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh would like to endorse their cause of Hinduism. India is not Hinduism. Hinduism is not India.    

“India is built above castes and religions and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family) is the very foundation of our secular society. It is the biggest assault ever done on secularism,” Moily said.

Congress in-charge of communications department Randeep Surjewala said, “Congress party will continue to act as watchdog of people’s interests and play a constructive role in progress of the state of UP.”

Maintaining that the prerogative of choosing a chief minister rested with the ruling party, Surjewala said, “Excessive delay in arriving at a decision as also the compulsion to create two posts of deputy CMs reflects a bitter conflict to share spoils of power despite overwhelming majority of over 300 MLAs.”

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, in a tribute to the new UP chief minister, put out a poem entitled ‘Tribute to new CM of UP’.

“BJP troll brigade obviously demented IQ deficient. What a pity that party could not find intelligent advocates for lost cause,” he also tweeted.

In another tweet, former Union Minister Khurshid said, “No more pretence! Yogi Adityanath to sit where Pantji, NDT, Bahugana et al once sat. Great test PM has put BJP trolls to. Explain this.”

Another former Union Minister Rajiv Shukla said, “There is a question mark on whether Yogi Adityanath will fulfil the three issues of good governance, development and taking everybody along. This will also be a challenge for him and one wonders how he will be able to deliver on these fronts. He will have to find solution.” 

Another Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “Congratulations UP! Hello media the man you called ‘fringe’ is now mainstream!.”

In another tweet, she said, “The New India Mr Modi spoke about, he is now putting into action with the choice of UP CM. Welcome to the new normal...”

She also said, “Also the ‘vikas ka mukhauta’. The mask is truly off.. bring on Shamshaan-Kabristaan, Diwali-Eid narrative”.

Communist Party of India-Marxist

The CPI-M questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stated commitment toward inclusive growth after the BJP named hardline Hindutva leader Yogi Adityanath as the next Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

“How the PM has chosen to interpret the UP results is shown in his selection of the new UP CM #Development.

“Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. Actions speak louder than words (sic),” CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a series of tweets.

CPI-M’s Brinda Karat termed Adityanath’s election as part of “RSS agenda”.

“It is clearly the RSS agenda and UP is the new experimental field for it. Since it is the victory of RSS (in UP elections), it has chosen the CM.

“This gentleman has a criminal record. Several charges like rioting and more serious offences are against him in various courts in UP. That’s the issue. Then why this rhetoric of ending criminalisation,” she said.

Samajwadi Party:

Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agrawal reacted cautiously to the Yogi’s elevation.

“I congratulate him on his election. We will wait and watch for six months. We hope he will change his thinking and desist from creating a divide between Hindus and Muslims. If he does, we will go among the people and oppose him,” he said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen:

Yogi Adityanath’s elevation as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is part of Narendra Modi’s vision of a “new India”, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said, taking a jibe at the decision.

Owasi, a firebrand Muslim leader, said he was the least surprised by the decision.

“This is an assault on India’s age-old “ganga jamuni tehzeeb” -- a fusion of Hindu and Muslim cultures, he said. 

“This is Modiji and BJP’s new India. But this is not at all surprising. The Samajwadi Party cheated the Muslims when it was in power. And now we will see a model of exclusivist development. This is the ‘vikas’ they talk about.”