Gorakhnath Math, caste at play as voters rue job distress, inflation

Sadanand Shukla of Gorakhpur swears by the BJP and will vote for the party in the coming elections. But he nurses a grouse. "Hum savarn log Bhajpa ka jhanda dhote dhote mare jaa rahe hain. Par humare bacche ka koi puchne wala nahi hai. MA, BA karke ghar mein baithe huye hain (We upper castes are wearing ourselves out keeping the BJP flag flying high, but our educated kids are suffering due to lack of jobs)," Shukla, a Brahmin, says. He goes on to criticise the party for focussing on welfare measures for the backwards and Dalits, but not doing anything to alleviate the job distress which is pinching its most loyal support base.

Evidently, unemployment is an issue in this otherwise safe seat of the BJP in UP due to the central role that the Gorakhnath math and Hindutva plays in the politics here. CM Yogi, the current mahant of the math, inherited the seat as an MP from his predecessor Mahant Avaidyanath in 1998, and had a straight five-year run before he was made the CM in 2017, and had to vacate the seat. In the 2018 bypolls, the alliance of SP-BSP won, shocking one and all but in 2019, BJP wrested the seat with actor Ravi Kishan succeeding Yogi. This year too, Kishan,is seeking votes in the name of the popularity of CM Yogi. "Ee mandiriya ka seat hai, math ka seat hai- hum khadaun rakhke sewa karat hain...pujya maharaj ji ka samman lagal ba (This is the mandir's seat, the math's seat. I serve here placing the khadaun (of Yogi). His respect is linked to this seat)," he says, supplementing this with a charm offensive of his own as he breaks into songs at the end of his addresses. Locals also accuse him of being largely absent from the constituency.


Kishan is being challenged by SP's Kaajal Nishad, also a Bhojpuri actress and the party is counting on the coming together of Nishad, Yadav, Muslim and a section of Dalit votes to help it sail through. SP has always fielded a Nishad -- the community has more than 3 lakh voters in the constituency. In the 2018 bypoll, it was Praveen Nishad, who defeated the BJP, but then he switched over to BJP. In 2019, SP's Ram Bhuwal Nishad polled 4.15 lakh votes but Kishan polled more than 7 lakh votes. Kaajal is vociferously raising the issue of unemployment, and also projecting herself as a local candidate. "If a BJP leader occupies every position of power, then who will raise their voice? You need to flip governments the way you flip chapatis so that they don't get burnt. When a youth wants to get married, he is not asked whether he can ring a bell or how many times he chants 'Ram Ram', he is judged on criteria of his education and salary," Kaajal says.

Which way the Nishads will swing will determine the fate of the seat in a big way. Much has changed over the last few years as the Nishad Party headed by Praveen's father Sanjay Nishad has become a BJP ally. "Nishads are mostly looking at the BJP as they do not want Yadavs to get emboldened with SP's victory here. But there is a fight," says Vikas Nishad. Shukla, conceding that a section of Nishads will vote for Kaajal on caste-based considerations, says this might bring down the winning margin, but the seat will not go to the SP.

Contrary to Yogi's image as a firebrand monk who keeps Muslims at bay, in Gorakhpur, especially in the area around the Gorakhnath temple which has a significant minority population, Muslims revere Yogi. "In this area, Muslim shopkeepers are like a family to CM. He is always there to help. When he was made the CM, he was welcomed with great enthusiasm by us," Ahmed Chaudhary, who sells bedsheets, told ET. Another Muslim voter says it is not without the support of Muslims that the BJP has been winning the seat. "But these are national elections and this time they are very different. Job crisis and inflation are big issues. More than ration, the youth need to be trained for jobs," Chaudhary says, lamenting how the handloom bedsheet business of Gorakhpur has been hijacked by production in Gujarat. "Nishads are with us as they are now benefitting from the welfare schemes of the Centre, unlike under other governments. Speaking about Muslims, the triple talaq practice was not an issue in the last elections. This time, with an Act against it, Muslim women will back us," Yudhishthir Singh, BJP district chief of Gorakhpur told ET.