IN THE past five years, both Gorakhpur and the Gorakhpur Mutt have enjoyed the perks of being “the CM city” and “the CM's shrine”, respectively. There are new roads across town, an upcoming AIIMS, fancy streetlights, plus a 'Nau Grah Temple' and open air theatre at the mutt, of which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the head priest. But that legacy comes with its share of great expectations, as Adityanath is realising, in his first Assembly election ever. No one doubts that the 49-year-old, who was the surprise CM choice for the BJP in 2017 and is now the unspoken only choice for the BJP now, will win from Gorakhpur Urban. The bets are on the scale of that victory. Gorakhpur district votes on March 3, the sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh elections. Last time, the BJP had won eight out of nine seats in Gorakhpur district, with long-time party MLA Radha Mohan Das Agrawal retaining Gorakhpur Urban with a 60,000-vote margin. Plus, Adityanath himself is a five-time MP from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat. “Maharaj” (as Adityanath is referred to) must match the record or better it, locals say. Anything less would be looked at as a setback. So even as Adityanath has been busy campaigning across the state for the BJP, an LED screen that covers an entire wall at his poll office has kept Gorakhpur in the loop, beaming his speeches and events. Volunteers have fanned out across the district from here, carrying pamphlets proclaiming “The new Gorakhpur of a new Uttar Pradesh”. “Yahaan ki janata MLA nahin, CM chun rahi hai (The people here are not electing an MLA, but the CM),” says Zakir Ali Warsi, 52, who has been working at the mutt now for more than a decade and lives nearby. He admits he often gets calls from relatives across the state as to how it is like working with “Maharaj”. “I say I have never had any issues.” Personal or religious connect apart, since 2017, Adityanath has brought to Gorakhpur UP's first Ayush University for alternative medicine and the Mahayogi Gorakhnath University; BRD Medical College that shot to national limelight in 2017 for infant deaths overnight allegedly due to lack of oxygen now has an ICMR lab for quick testing and research into encephalitis and extra 500 paediatric beds; and a fertiliser plant. At least 40 institutions, including schools and now a university called Mahayogi Gorakhnath University, are managed and run by Maharana Pratap Shiksha Parishad, which has Adityanath as secretary in his personal capacity as head of the mutt. Interestingly, more than minority votes (about 40,000), the challenge for Adityanath appears to be coming from the Brahmin voters (about 50,000), a fact that the Samajwadi Party and Congress have picked up on. The SP's candidate from Gorakhpur Urban is Subhawati Shukla, the wife of a late and dedicated worker of the BJP, reportedly sidelined by the party after his death. The Congress has fielded youth leader Chetna Pandey. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar is also contesting from Gorakhpur Urban, but no one gives him any chance. “Record hona chahiye (Adityanath must win by a record),” says Virendra Kumar, who manages the Gorakhnath Mutt office. Campaigning for the BJP's sitting MLA from Campeirganj Assembly seat in Gorakhpur two days back, Adityanath also told party workers to keep their focus on the victory margin. “Chunav to jeetenge hi, lekin badhat kitne ki ho, yeh humein taya karna hai (There is no doubt we would win, but what should the victory magin be, that's in our hands),” he had said. A traditional BJP seat, Gorakhpur Urban has been with the party since 1989, except once in 2002, when Adityanath had backed rebel candidate Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, who contested as the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha candidate and won. Agrawal went on to win three more times as the BJP candidate. Ironically, it is Agrawal who has had to make way for Adityanath now. Party sources admit Agrawal was not happy. He is reported to have even switched off his mobile phones for a while. However, now he is out campaigning for Adityanath. Of Gorakhpur's nine Assembly constituencies - Gorakhpur Rural, Gorakhpur Urban, Campierganj, Pipraich, Sehjanwa, Khajani, Chauri Chaura, Bansgaon and Chillupar – the BJP had not won only Chillupar. The seat had been taken by BSP candidate Vinay Shankar Tiwari, the son of six-term MLA and criminal-turned-politician Hari Shankar Tiwari. This time, Tiwari is contesting as the SP candidate. The BJP has gone with a Brahmin too, Rajesh Tripathi, who had achieved the near impossible twice by defeating Hari Shankar from Chillupar in 2007 and 2012 on a BSP ticket. Tripathi had lost in 2017 contesting on a BJP ticket. With the BSP fielding a lesser-known Rajendra Sehi, the contest is essentially between Tripathi and Tiwari. Among the voters, there is little hesitance regarding the overall choice. Many have a list of woes but say they will vote for the BJP as a “kartavya (duty)”. Like Baldeo Ram Singh, 68, who runs a wood business. “Vyapari pareshan hai. notebandi, GST, paisa centralised kar diya … Dhanda khatam ho gaya hai… The trader was your voter. and you have finished him off,” he says, adding that his vote though is for the “kamal (lotus)”. Sri Prakash, who runs a paint shop, recounts his losses too, but while he believes the SP's Subhawati Shukla, wife of former BJP leader Upendra Dutt Shukla, is getting sympathy, he doesn't see this converting into a win. BRD Medical College now has a new road with proper drainage and “fancy” lights, plus a sprawling multi-storey ICMR building. On February 20, as a van stops at the door of the Acute Encephalitis Ward, Pramod Yadav jumps out carrying his 18-month-old son. “He has had fever for some time and recently started vomiting. We took him to the district hospital (in Kushinagar), but doctors asked me to get him to BRD,” says Yadav. While encephalitis once killed 500 children every year in these parts, the government claims it is now down by 99%. Rushing around to get his son tested for encephalitis, Yadav, who works as a labourer, is not really bothered about the elections. A good government, for him, would be one that ensures he doesn't have to travel over 80 km in search of better health facilities for his child. Gorakhpur seats 2017 8 BJP, 1 BSP Gorakhpur Urban: BJP beat Cong by nearly 60,000 votes Gorakhpur Rural: BJP beat SP by 4,000 votes Campierganj: BJP beat Cong by 40,000-plus votes Pipraich: BJP beat BSP by 12,000 votes Sehjanwa: BJP beat SP by 16,000 votes Khajani (SC): BJP beat BSP by 20,000 votes Chauri Chaura: BJP beat SP by 45,000 votes Bansgaon (SC): BJP beat BSP by 22,000-plus votes Chillupar: BSP beat BJP by 4,000 votes 2012 4 BSP, 3 BJP, 1 SP, 1 NCP
