Yogi Adityanath: 1st MLA to become CM in 15 years; smashes 'Noida jinx' too

As the BJP is poised to assume power in the key state of Uttar Pradesh for a second term, the state will have a MLA, Yogi Adityanath as chief minister for the first time after a span of 15 years. This is the first assembly election fought by Yogi Adityanath as this five-time Member of Parliament had assumed power as the CM the first time in 2017 after becoming Member of the Legislative Council (MLC).

His predecessor, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, too was an MLC when he was the CM and so was Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief. In 2017, Adityanath became the fourth UP CM to come from the upper house of the legislature. However, before 1999, UP did not have an MLC as CM and it was Ram Prakash Gupta of the BJP, was the  first MLC to become UP’s CM 1999. But, after setting this record, he did not stay in the office even for a year.

Meanwhile, even as a victorious Yogi Adityanath seems to be all set to return to the top post in UP for a second consecutive term, he has not just smashed a 36-year old jinx of an incumbent government being voted back to power for the second time. But, he seems to have also broken what was known as the “Noida Jinx”.

The “Noida jinx” had taken root after CM Veer Bahadur Singh had to step down in June 1988, a few days after he returned from Noida. This myth grew and assumed a larger-than-life proportion as many UP CMs steered clear of visiting Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district fearing for their seat.

In recent history, Mayawati, who took oath as the UP CM in March 2007, had visited Noida in November that year to attend the wedding of close aide Satish Mishra’s relative. However, the BSP supremo, who was trying to cock a snook at the myth was ousted from power from the state in 2012. Mayawati hails from Badalpur village in Greater Noida.

Her predecessors Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, BJP’s Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh had also avoided visiting Noida during their chief ministership.

Also read: Why BJP is winning in UP despite anti-incumbency?

Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav, who became the CM in 2012, too followed the myth and avoided in-person visit to Noida, which is often dubbed as the show window to UP.
In 2013, former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the Asian Development Bank Summit organised in Noida, when the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the chief guest.

Yogi Adityanath, who had stormed to power in UP in 2017, has not taken this myth seriously and visited Noida nearly a dozen times after becoming the UP chief minister. He had even lanched the Noida Metro, among other development projects in the region over the years.

In January this year, Adityanath visited Gautam Buddh Nagar to review the COVID-19 pandemic situation. He did not miss the opportunity to slam Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav for not visiting the place and pointed out that it was therefore important for him since previous CMs had bypassed the district.

“They were afraid. Their own life and political power were the only things important for them. But they had no agenda for economic prosperity, health and well-being of the people of the state and hence they were hesitant about visiting Gautam Buddh Nagar,” Adityanath had said.

Adityanath, who is contesting his maiden assembly polls, was leading from the Gorakhpur Urban seat and was leading by 31,000 votes. All the three BJP candidates in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, seem likely to be win as well, according to poll trends. Noida, Dadri and Jewar Assembly constituencies fall in the district.

The saffron robe clad CM had polled over 67 per cent of the votes counted till 2.30 pm. While the nearest rival Subhawati Shukla of the SP trailed with 22 per cent of the votes. Meanwhile, in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, BJPs Pankaj Singh, Dhirendra Singh and Tejpal Nagar also looked set to record electoral victories once again from Noida, Jewar and Dadri, respectively, according to Election Commissions poll trends.

The BJP party-led alliance lwas eading in 272 seats as against 123 of its nearest rival Samajwadi Party. The state has 403 assembly seats and 202 seats are needed to form a majority government.

The final results for the polls were yet to be announced.