Yogi Adityanath faces 7 major challenges

A day after taking oath as Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath directed his party workers and the state machinery to fulfill the promises of BJP’s Sankalp Patra. Adityanath has a good track record in his constituency, but we will have to wait and watch whether the new CM can govern a state the size of Uttar Pradesh with low social and economic indices, and also whether he can deliver on the promises made by BJP in its manifesto.

Faced with high expectations created by the massive mandate given to the BJP, the new chief minister faces several challenges. The party has promised a host of things in its manifesto and the key among them are:

- A ban on mechanised abattoirs or slaughterhouses.

- Ascertaining opinion of Muslim women over the Islamic divorce practice of triple talaq.

- "Exploring all possibilities within the constitutional framework in construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya."

- Stemming the alleged migration of Hindus from riot-hit Muslim-majority towns in western Uttar Pradesh.

- Waiving off loans for small farmers, abundant electricity, new hospitals and universities, free school education for girls and free laptops to all college students with one 1 GB free internet a month.

- To raise “anti-Romeo” police battalions to tackle crimes against women.

- Put all criminals who are absconding after being given parole behind bars, within 45 days of formation of a BJP government in the state.

- To check corruption, the manifesto promises a special helpline in the CM's office (CMO) while the task force too will be directly under the CMO.

- The manifesto made a special mention of the plight of sugarcane farmers, promising to clear dues to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore within three months.

- A start-up venture capital fund worth Rs 1,000 crore to "encourage youth to be self reliant".

- To provide subsidised electricity to the poor for the first 100 units, the rebate being Rs 3 per unit.

Challenges

Inclusive governance and sabka saath, sabka vikas

The BJP as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi have talked about “sabka saath, sabka vikas” but here is a CM who is well known for his antagonistic attitude towards the Muslim community. He has made his political fortune via anti-Muslim rants. Some of his controversial anti-minority comments are:

1) On Hindu rashtra: I will not stop till I turn UP and India into a Hindu rashtra. (At Etah, UP, in 2005)

2) On (Hindus) "exodus": When I look at western UP, I have regrets… On January 19, 1990, Hindus had to migrate collectively from Kashmir. A massacre took place. If we have seen a sight similar to this anywhere, it was either in Bengal or western UP. Kairana and Kandhla are examples. (At Sahibabad, on January 30, 2017)

3) On minorities: We want you (minorities) not to kill anybody and live peacefully and concentrate on progress... If the other side does not stay in peace, we will teach them how to stay in peace... in the language that they understand. (During a TV programme on August 31, 2014)

4) On Shah Rukh Khan: Shah Rukh Khan should remember that if a huge mass in (the) society boycotts his films, he will also have to wander on the streets like a normal Muslim... I think there is no difference between the language of Shah Rukh Khan and (Pakistan terror mastermind) Hafiz Saeed. (On November 4, 2015)

5) On conversions: If one Hindu girl is converted, we will convert 100 Muslims girls... The way Hindu girls are insulted, I don’t think a civilised society would accept it... If the government is not doing anything, then the Hindus will have to take matters into their own hands. (In an undated video, reportedly from a speech in Azamgarh)

6) On love jihad: We will not tolerate harassment of Hindus in the state at any cost... If anybody tries to touch Hindus in eastern UP, he will have to face the consequences.

7) On secularism: You (non-BJP parties) claim you are secular but the agenda you implement is communal... there are 12 lakh Hindu saints in the country but you talk about giving salaries to Imams. Is this secularism? (In Parliament on August 13, 2014)

8) On riots: There have been 450 riots in west UP in two-and-a-half years of Samajwadi Party rule because the population of a particular community is rising manifold. In places where there is 10-20 per cent minority population, stray communal incidents take place. Where there are 20-35 per cent of them, serious communal riots take place and where they are more than 35 per cent, there is no place for non-Muslims. (At a rally in Noida on September 7, 2014)

Can Adiyanath as CM ignore 1/5th of the state’s population? Is he ready to leave behind his past and move forward by embracing all sections of the society and prove that he is the people’s chief minister? The challenge before his government is whether it will be an inclusive government.

Development of UP and efficient governance

The social indicators of UP are not very encouraging.

- Uttar Pradesh has the highest rate of malnutrition, with every second child under five suffering from stunted growth and the mortality rate for infants and under-fives is high along with shocking levels of maternal mortality.

- Nearly six of ten households are used to defecating in the open.

- The state has an overall literacy rate of 67 per cent - trailing the Indian average by a decade. Nearly every second person in half a dozen districts is illiterate.

- Within this landscape, three of ten persons do not own land and of those who do own land, only half have access to irrigation.

- Uttar Pradesh has over 11.7 crore people in the age group of 15 to 65, representing the urgency and need for job creation. Less than a third of students have completed secondary schooling.

Economy

- Per capita income at Rs 48,500 per year is just around half of the average national per capita income and even trails Odisha and Madhya Pradesh on the Bimaru states' list.

- Rural per capita income is worse at around Rs 25,000, and eight of ten persons are living in rural areas.

Poverty

- It has the largest number of persons below the poverty line - over 4.8 crore or over 22 per cent of the poorest.

- The infant mortality rate is 50 (per 1,000), and the maternal mortality rate is 392 (per 1,000).

Yogi Adityanath faces the tough task of providing an efficient government and taking Uttar Pradesh to a growth trajectory that matches that of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Construction of Ram temple

The Ram Mandir was one issue that catapulted BJP to power but till now that promise remains unfulfilled. In every election the party makes it a key poll plant but it has remained an empty promise. For a long time, the BJP has been saying that whenever it will get full majority it will get the Ram temple constructed and but only under the direction of the Supreme Court. Now, the party has an overwhelming mandate, and a pujari of a temple has become the CM. So when will the temple be constructed?

Farmer loan waiver

The BJP manifesto talks about the plight of sugarcane farmers, promising to clear due to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore within three months. According to the state’s statistics, around 58.2 per cent of farmer families are reeling under debt burden. And according to an SBI report, if the UP government fulfils its farmer loan waiver promise, banks are likely to take a hit of Rs 27,420 crore and the scheme will lead to some stress on the state's fiscal arithmetic. Can the government really fulfill this promise and take the risk of hampering its fiscal health or will it turn out to be a hollow statement?

On March 16, during a discussion in Parliament, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said the Centre will bear the burden of the promised loan waiver for farmers in Uttar Pradesh. This also raises one big question - is the farmer’s problem only confined to UP, because on this issue there was a walkout by several MPs of other parties from Parliament!

Ban on slaughter houses and rehabilitation

The BJP manifesto says that only illegal slaughter houses will be closed. But the party’s national president Amit Shah during the election campaign in Unnao said that all slaughterhouses across the state will be banned from the night of March 12. There seems to be confusion among the community whose livelihood depends on meat business.

Banning slaughterhouses will have far-reaching social implications if we look at some facts:

- 126 legal slaughterhouses in UP employ 2 lakh people.

- UP is the top buffalo meat producing state.

- According to the state’s animal husbandry department, UP produced 7,515.14 lakh kg of buffalo meat in 2014-15.

- The net worth of the entire beef industry in UP is approximately Rs 17,000 crore.

A major chunk of the Qureishis, a Muslim subcommunity, are associated with the business of slaughterhouses - they fear about their livelihood and the possibility of backlash. There have been a number of cases in the past where truckloads of buffalo meat were stopped and the driver was harassed by cow vigilante groups; cow slaughter cases were also lodged against them.

The Dadri lynching case is still fresh in the memory of the Muslim community in UP. It poses a huge challenge before the Yogi Adiyanath government. Has the government thought anything about the people whose livelihood will be affected? Does the government have any alternative plan for them? Will it protect minorities who are legally into the meat exporting business?

Triple talaq

In its election manifesto, the BJP promised that it will ascertain the opinion of Muslim women over triple talaq and accordingly move in the direction of making laws on the issue after deliberation. The challenge lies in whether Yogi Aditayanath will get overwhelming support of Muslim women and other stakeholders in this initiative?

Law and order

The manifesto says that if the party wins it would ensure all criminals are behind bars within 45 days.

The crime figure of UP has been disturbing. The previous government of Akhilesh Yadav had become infamous for not providing appropriate law and order.

According to the latest data released by NCRB (2015), UP tops the list of crimes against women. It reported 35,527 cases in 2015, or 10.9 per cent of all such crimes in India.

NCRB data for 2014 revealed that Uttar Pradesh has reported the highest number of crimes relating to special and local laws (SLL), accounting for 54.7 per cent of total crimes reported in the country during 2014. It also reported the highest number of cases (41,889) of violent crimes, accounting for 12.7 per cent of total violent crimes in the country.

The challenge before Yogi Adiyanath is to provide an efficient administration, effective policing, and ensure safety of women and minorities in the state.

Also read: How to get away with murder in India? Blame a man for eating beef