“Stop worrying about Ayodhya, speak on Mathura…”, CM Yogi’s open challenge to Akhilesh Yadav from the stage of Hathras.

UP Politics Yogi Mathura Card Akhilesh: These days, in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) has adopted a very aggressive stance on the issue of theft of offerings and donations in Ayodhya Ram temple. But, to counter this sharp attack, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP have made such a big strategic move, which has shocked the opposition.

As soon as the police and administration took immediate action and arrested 8 people on serious allegations of irregularities and manipulation in donations to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Trust, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav started linking it directly to the failure of the Yogi government and the character of the BJP. Akhilesh had intensified his efforts to take it among the public by setting a new political narrative of ‘Chanda Chori’ and ‘Chhadwa Chori’.

CM Yogi’s ‘Mathura Challenge’ to foil Akhilesh’s attack

Akhilesh Yadav’s main objective was to deal a blow to BJP’s strong image of ‘Hindutva, honesty and purity’, due to which in the initial phase it was becoming a bit difficult for BJP to give a political response at the grassroots level. To blunt the edge of this narrative, the Yogi government first showed action mode at the administrative level. The government immediately set up a SIT investigation and sent the accused behind bars, thereby sending a strong message to the public that no culprit who plays with public trust will be spared. Soon after, taking over the political stage, CM Yogi turned the entire debate in the other direction by directly targeting Akhilesh Yadav on the issue of ‘Mathura’.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a scathing attack on Akhilesh Yadav from a stage in Hathras and gave him two direct and tough challenges. He sarcastically said that Akhilesh Yadav should now stop worrying about Ayodhya and should go there and atone for his deeds. CM Yogi further said that if the SP chief considers himself really religious and Yaduvanshi, then he should openly say in front of the world that just as the grand movement for the liberation of Ram Janmabhoomi was launched, similarly a grand campaign should be launched for the liberation of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura and he supports it.

Samajwadi Party stuck between well and ditch

This ‘Mathura Challenge’ of Yogi Adityanath has created a very difficult situation like a well and a ditch in front of the strategists of Samajwadi Party. The main reason behind this is that if Akhilesh Yadav remains completely silent on this sensitive issue in front of the Yadav community that worships Lord Shri Krishna, then BJP will very easily prove him to be ‘anti-Krishna’. On the other hand, if they openly support it, leaving aside electoral gains and losses, then there is a big fear of losing the party’s strongest and core Muslim vote bank. Along with this, CM Yogi has completely pushed SP on the backfoot by reminding the past of the ban on celebrating Janmashtami in police stations during the previous tenure of the SP government and the firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya.

Along with Kamandal, BJP is also pursuing Mandal politics.

In this interesting political check-mate game of Uttar Pradesh, BJP is not just relying on Kamandal i.e. religious polarization, but it is also very cleverly managing Mandal politics along with it. On one hand, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself came on the front foot and openly challenged SP on the thorny issue of Ayodhya and Mathura, on the other hand, BJP’s newly appointed state president Pankaj Chaudhary suddenly created a stir in the political circles by meeting the family members of veteran socialist thinker Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia at his residence in Lucknow.

The BJP state president’s visit to the house of the Lohia family, considered the biggest ideological symbol and pillar of the SP, clearly indicates that the BJP is now keeping a close eye on making a deep dent in the SP’s traditional non-Yadav OBC vote bank and its core ideology. In this way, the circle of corruption which Akhilesh Yadav had tried hard to trap BJP in on the pretext of Ayodhya, has been completely neutralized by BJP by increasing its proximity to its ‘Mathura card’ and ‘Lohia family’. At present, the ball now appears to be completely in SP’s court on the political chessboard of UP.