Yogi's rise a new phase in Hindu nationalism, says Shashank Chaturvedi

'Yogi Adityanath as an MP from Gorakhpur maintained a distance from the RSS and ran his show through the Hindu Yuva Vahini', said Chaturvedi

Shashank Chaturvedi, who teaches at the Centre for Development Practice and Research (CDPR), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), in an interview with Aditi Phadnis discusses the importance — and complexities — of Gorakhpur and the math, to which Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath belongs. Edited excerpts:

Yogi Adityanath will contest election from Gorakhpur. The outcome is a foregone conclusion. But what do you think impelled him and the BJP to field him from there? Could the shock defeat of the BJP in the 2018 by-election be a factor?

There is a background to Yogi Adityanath contesting from Gorakhpur.