Yogi Adityanath's arrest changed him, claims upcoming book

Even as most people are still trying to come to terms with the appointment of Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, an upcoming book on him and his Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) claims that his arrest in January 2007 changed him to a large extent.

Yogi Adityanath was arrested while he and his followers were marching towards Gorakhpur's troubled areas on January 28, 2007 after he made an inflammatory speech.

"Whatever be the reason, the arrest and the state government's decision to withdraw the security guards who had been assigned to protect Adityanath seemed to have unnerved him so much that his eyes welled up and tears rolled down his face as he explained to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee about what he called the 'political conspiracy' against him," author Dhirendra K. Jha mentions in "Yogi Adityanath and the Hindu Yuva Vahini".

With this episode -- Yogi weeping in the Parliament -- image of a firebrand leader as well as his outfit's activities in eastern UP took a serious hit.

"For some time the HYV appeared to be in shambles and Adityanath refrained from leading the mob and participating in attacks on Muslims as he was earlier wont to. Later, even as the HYV revived its organizational activities, his re-activation was restricted to making inflammatory speeches and participating in token actions," says the upcoming book from Juggernaut.

Ever since then, according to the book, Yogi has become cautious of his actions.

"In his speeches he still followed the same old extremist politics. But in action, he appeared to have become cautious even if he claimed to be the same old Yogi," Jha adds in the book.

The book is part one of an eight-part series "Shadow Armies: Fringe Organizations and Foot Soldiers of Hindutva" and will be available on Juggernaut and in bookstores in April 2017.

The author, Dhirendra K. Jha, is a seasoned political journalist and has previously co-authored "Ayodhya: The Dark Night".

--IANS

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