Every time Yogi hits the campaign trail, a Hindu leader is murdered in UP. Is this a ploy to keep him away?

The entry of Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath in Delhi Assembly polls seems to have profoundly hurt the prospects of the Kejriwal led AAP. Even as he cornered Delhi CM, Kejriwal over the Shaheen Bagh protests and anti CAA violence, AAP suffered a huge meltdown and demanded a ban on poll campaigning by the Uttar Pradesh CM In Delhi.

Meanwhile, another incident with significant political repercussions took place yesterday when a Hindu leader and Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha president Ranjit Bachchan was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Lucknow. The incident took place at the Globe Park in the Hazratganj area of the capital, police said. Bachchan was shot in the head multiple times by bike-borne assailants while he was on a morning walk inside the park near the CDRI building. The attackers fled promptly from the spot after firing on Bachchan and his brother.

On a cursory look, Yogi’s entry in Delhi Assembly poll campaign and Ranjit Bachchan’s murder light seem unrelated and isolated. But looking at the larger picture and the effect of the two seemingly unrelated events shows that there could be something more than what meets the eye.

The immediate effects of Ranjit Bachchan’s brutal murder have been a slight dent in Yogi’s image as a Hindu leader and questions about the law and order prevailing in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The murder of Ranjit Bachchan ought to be viewed in the context of the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. Yogi Adityanath arrived in Delhi on Saturday and got into campaign mode. He is going to stay in Delhi till February 4, during which time he will have addressed 16 rallies in the National Capital.

Yogi, who has started hitting AAP where it hurts the most, is set to address election rallies in places like Shaheen Bagh, Tughluqabad, Chand Bagh, Mustafabad, Sri Ram Colony and Maulvi Nagar. All these places have borne the brunt of anti CAA protests and violence, following fear mongering by opposition parties, including AAP.

Yogi’s speeches and rallies in such areas can potentially hurt the prospects of those who were trying to capitalise upon anti CAA violence in the National Capital.

AAP which is clearly fearful of Yogi’s campaigning has gone to the extent of demanding the Election Commission to impose a ban on the Uttar Pradesh CM. The Kejriwal led party has even threatened that it would hold a dharna (agitation) outside the Election Commission’s office if a ban is not imposed upon the UP Chief Minister.

Such threats show the level of desperation within the AAP when it comes to keeping Yogi away from the Delhi Assembly Elections campaign.

Ranjt Bachchan was murdered only a day after Yogi arrived in Delhi. The murder naturally became a breaking news and a trending issue. Suddenly, the entire attention got diverted to the brutal murder.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President, Ajay Kumar Lallu also targeted Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath straightaway and demanded that he resigns as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

Former BJP MP, Sharad Tripathi too targeted the Yogi government over the murder of Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha state President in Lucknow. Several tweets show the kind of impression that the brutal murder has created.

As per latest reports, Ranjit Bachchan’s wife, Kalindi Sharma created a furore outside the Hazratganj Police Station and post-mortem house and hit out at Chief Minister Yogi, demanding that he returns from poll campaigning.

It is very much possible that Yogi might have to give up Delhi poll campaigning in between and leave for Lucknow. This could prove detrimental to BJP’s prospects in the National Capital.

Yogi is BJP’s star campaigner, and his poll rallies and speeches create flutters within the opposition. Statistics establish his critical role as a BJP campaigner. His poll campaigns in states like Tripura, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Haryana have proved his mettle.

Even in the month of October last year, when Yogi Adityanath was in the middle of an intensive poll campaign ahead of Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly Elections, Hindu Samaj Party president and former Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari was brutally murdered by unidentified assailants at his Lucknow residence.

Though there is no similarity in the methods of the two murders, there are unmistakable similarities in the objectives, immediate effect and the poll-bound circumstances in which both the murders were committed.

Yogi’s image of a Mahant– a popular Hindu leader and an efficient Chief Minister who has virtually resurrected Uttar Pradesh from the virtual state of lawlessness that it was in, is what also makes him a popular and effective poll campaigner for the BJP.

The murders of Hindu leaders in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow have larger political repercussions. And that too when the murders take place in the middle of intense poll campaigns. Such incidents do not leave a good impression about the Uttar Pradesh CM, almost sabotaging his Election campaigns.

A pertinent question that arises here is if the murders of Hindu leaders in the middle of crucial Assembly Elections that too in the midst of Yogi Adityanath’s fiery poll campaigns are just a mere coincidence or a serious political conspiracy to malign the popular BJP leader and keep him at bay during crucial political battles.