‘I, Adityanath Yogi…’: Yogi 2.0 Era Begins in Uttar Pradesh

Yogi Adityanath on Friday took oath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh chief for a second consecutive term at a mega ceremony in Lucknow.

New Delhi: Yogi Adityanath on Friday took oath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh chief for a second consecutive term at a mega ceremony in Lucknow. Adityanath became the first CM in over three and a half decades to return to power in the state after completing a full five-year term.

Yogi Adityanath took oath in presence of PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, CMs of 12 BJP-ruled states, senior BJP leaders and a slew of dignitaries. Yogi Adityanath was sworn in by Governor Anandiben Patel in a jam-packed Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium with a crowd of more than 50,000 in attendance.

Meanwhile, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak took oath as the deputy chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh.

Yogi Adityanath’s political journey so far

Born Ajay Singh Bisht in Pauri Garhwal’s Panchur (now Uttarakhand), on June 5, 1972, Yogi Adityanath left home in 1990 to join the campaign to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He also became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath of the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur.

After Avaidyanath’s death in 2014, he took over as the head of the Gorakhnath `math’, a post he still holds and makes frequent trip to the eastern UP town. In Gorakhpur, he founded his own band of volunteers, called the Hindu Yuva Vahini. Adityanath went to school in his native village and later completed his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.

He entered politics on the directions of his guru in 1998 and at 28 became the youngest Lok Sabha member, winning from Gorakhpur. He went on the represent the parliamentary seat four more times till he became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19, 2017.