Wherever he goes, his image precedes him and that is already half the work done.
Anyone who has been even remotely familiar with Purvanchal and Mahant Yogi Adityanath is aware of the fact that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is a strict and uncompromising taskmaster, prone to rather angry outbursts if one does not toe the line.
His image has already travelled faster to Lucknow and the results are beginning to show. The police have turned over-active and over-zealous cops are working overtime to ensure that they do not invite the CM’s ire. The Anti-Romeo squads are working with unmatched zeal—even beating up cousins if they belong to opposite sex. About 100 policemen including seven inspectors have already been suspended for negligence of duty and more action is on the way.
The “Swachch Bharat” campaign received the much-needed push on the day the CM went into the unexplored areas of the Sachivalaya Annexe and frowned at the loose electric wires, gutka-spit marks on the walls and wash basins. The CM’s surprise inspection of a police station has led to all government offices and police stations being spruced up now. Buildings are being white washed and air purifiers are being used to remove the stink of urine from washrooms.
The crackdown on unauthorised slaughter houses also began within hours of the CM taking the oath of office and it is another matter that the over active officers have almost forced the people of the state to turn vegetarians. “The fact that these unauthorised slaughter houses had been flourishing for years, shows the working of the police in the previous regimes. The government has not yet issued formal ban orders and the beef business has already started grinding to a halt. The ban on goat meat and chicken is a result of fear psychosis. This is called the Yogi effect,” said a senior government official who has had a positing in Gorakhpur.
Interestingly, though the CM has put the entire administration into a panic mode with his style of functioning, he has not ordered action against any employee or official so far and nor has he raised his voice on anyone.
Unlike Mayawati, Adityanath’s inspections have not been followed by suspension.
Earlier in the week, Yogi Adityanath drove down to the Gomti Riverfront—a project that was close to Akhilesh Yadav’s heart—and when he began questioning the officials about the budget allocation and the stink emanating from the river, there was a stunned silence all around.
“When he started questioning us about the money spent on various projects and the percentage of work done, many of us did not know what to say. Working under him will not be so easy because he seems to be perfectly clued in about what has been happening here in the past few years,” said an engineer who was grilled by the CM.
“It is his image that gets things going. The Chief Minister sought the files related to repeated extension of service of A.P. Misra, the managing director of UP Power Corporation Limited and within hours, the official sent in his resignation,” said a close aide of the CM in Gorakhpur.
Another incident of his style of functioning that has sent strong signals to his colleagues in the government is the one related to his deputy CM. Adityanath Yogi, apparently, did not appreciate the manner in which his deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya hurriedly occupied the CM’s chamber in the Sachivalaya Annexe and even got his name plate fixed.
As soon as the CM learnt of this, he walked into the Annexe and announced that he would work from here now. The name plate was hurriedly changed and a miffed Keshav Maurya chose to accept the authority of the CM quietly.