Yogi Adityanath

"Adityanath" redirects here. For other uses, see Yogi Adityanath ministry.

Yogi Adityanath
Official portrait, 2023
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 March 2017
Governor	Ram Naik Anandiben Patel
Deputy	Brajesh Pathak (since 2022) Keshav Prasad Maurya (since 2017) Dinesh Sharma (2017–2022)
Preceded by	Akhilesh Yadav
Additional ministries	List Home and Confidential Appointment and Personnel General Administration Cabinet Affairs Information and Public Relations Housing Revenue Mining and Geology Institutional Finance Planning Programme Implementation Relief and Rehabilitation Protocol Sainik Welfare Prantiya Raksha Dal Civil Aviation Law Food Safety and Drug Administration Other departments not allotted to any minister
Member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 March 2022
Preceded by	Radha Mohan Das Agarwal
Constituency	Gorakhpur Urban
Majority	1,03,390
Member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council
In office 18 September 2017 – 22 March 2022
Preceded by	Yashwant Singh
Succeeded by	Daya Shankar Mishra
Constituency	Elected by the MLAs
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 5 October 1998 – 21 September 2017
Preceded by	Mahant Avaidyanath
Succeeded by	Praveen Kumar Nishad
Constituency	Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh
Leader of the House of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 March 2022
Speaker	Hriday Narayan Dikshit Satish Mahana
Preceded by	Keshav Prasad Maurya
Personal details
Born	Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht (1972-06-05) 5 June 1972 Panchur, Uttar Pradesh, India (present-day Uttarakhand)
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Residence	5, Kalidas Marg, Lucknow
Alma mater	Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (BSc, Mathematics)
Occupation	Politician monk
Cabinet	Yogi Adityanath I Yogi Adityanath II
Website	Official Website UP CM official
Personal
Religion	Hinduism
Denomination	Shaivism
School	Yoga
Lineage	Guru Gorakhnath
Sect	Nath Sampradaya
Temple	Gorakhnath Math
Religious career
Guru	Mahant Avaidyanath
Period in office	2014–present
Predecessor	Mahant Avaidyanath
Ordination	12 September 2014
Post	Mahant

Yogi Adityanath (born Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht; 5 June 1972) is an Indian Hindu monk and politician. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Adityanath has served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since 2017. He is the state's longest-serving chief minister and the first to hold the office for two consecutive terms.

Previously, Adityanath served as a member of India's parliament for almost two decades, from 1998 until 2017. At the age of 26, he became one of the youngest Indian parliamentarians in 1998 and went on to win the next five consecutive terms from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency. In 2017, he moved from central to the UP state politics and was elected as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Initially, in 2017, he became a member of the UP legislative council. Subsequently, in 2022, he became a member of the state legislative assembly, having won the election from Gorakhpur Urban Assembly constituency.

Adityanath is also the mahant (head priest) of the Gorakhnath Math, a Hindu monastery in Gorakhpur, a position he has held since September 2014 following the death of Mahant Avaidyanath, his spiritual Guru. He founded Hindu Yuva Vahini, a now defunct Hindutva youth militia. He has an image of a Hindutva nationalist and a social conservative. Adityanath was placed 5th in 2023 and 6th in 2024 on the list of India's most powerful personalities, conducted by the Indian Express.

Early life and education

Yogi Adityanath was born as Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht on 5 June 1972 in the village of Panchur, in Pauri Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand) in a Garhwali Rajput family. His late father, Anand Singh Bisht, was a forest ranger. He was the second born in the family, among four brothers and three sisters. He completed his bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Uttarakhand.

He left his home around the 1990s to join the Ayodhya Ram temple movement and the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Around that time, he also became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath, the chief of the Gorakhnath Math. Mahant Avaidyanath was leading the Ayodhya Ram temple movement at that time. While based in Gorakhpur after his initiation, Adityanath has often visited his ancestral village, establishing a school there in 1998.

Adityanath was promoted to the rank of Mahant or high priest of the Gorakhnath Math after the death of Avaidyanath on 12 September 2014. He was made Peethadhishwar (Head Seer) of the Math amid traditional rituals of the Nath sect two days later.

Early political career

Adityanath belongs to a specific tradition of Hindutva politics in Uttar Pradesh that can be traced back to the Mahant Digvijay Nath. Both Digvijay Nath and his successor Mahant Avaidyanath belonged to the Hindu Mahasabha and were elected to the Parliament on that party's ticket. The head priest (Mahant) of the Gorakhnath Math, a prominent Hindu temple, Mahant Avaidyanath switched to the BJP in 1991, but nevertheless maintained significant autonomy. Four years after Adityanath was designated Avaidyanath's successor, he was elected to the Lower House of the Indian Parliament (the Lok Sabha). Avaidyanath is known as the mentor and guru of Adityanath. Adityanath was elected as a Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur for the first time in 1998 during the 12th Lok Sabha at the age of 26; he was its youngest member at that time. He was elected to Parliament for five consecutive terms, that is, in the 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections.

Adityanath's attendance in the Lok Sabha was 77% and he asked 284 questions, participated in 56 debates and introduced three private member Bills in the 16th Lok Sabha. Adityanath had also said in the Lok Sabha on 13 August 2014, that who is communal should be a topic of discussion and that whoever claims that My God, my Prophet is the most superior is communal; to say that the only people who are entitled to life are those who believe in him which is not allowed by the Hindu philosophy of life, the guiding principle of which is "live and let live." After his first electoral win, Adityanath started his own youth organisation Hindu Yuva Vahini, which came to be known for its activities in eastern Uttar Pradesh and was instrumental in Adityanath's meteoric rise. There have been recurrent tensions between Adityanath and the BJP leadership over the allocating election tickets. However, the BJP has not let the tensions mount because Adityanath has served as a star campaigner for the party.

In 2006, he took up links between Nepali Maoists and Indian Leftist parties as a key campaign issue and encouraged Madhesi leaders to oppose Maoism in Nepal. In 2008, his convoy was reportedly attacked while en route to Azamgarh for an anti-terrorism rally. The attack left one person dead and at least six persons injured.

In January 2007, Adityanath along with other BJP leaders had gathered to mourn the death of a man who was killed because of religious violence. He and his supporters were subsequently arrested by the police and lodged in Gorakhpur jail on the charges of disturbing peace and violating prohibitory orders. His arrest led to further unrest during which several coaches of the Mumbai bound Mumbai–Gorakhpur Godan Express were burnt, allegedly by protesting Hindu Yuva Vahini members. The day after the arrest, the District Magistrate and the local police chief were transferred and replaced.

Murder case dismissal

In 1999, Adityanath was charged in connection with the death of head constable Satya Prakash Yadav, who was the personal security officer of Samajwadi Party leader Talat Aziz. The incident occurred in Maharajganj when Adityanath and his supporters reportedly opened fire at Aziz and his supporters. The CB-CID (Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department) conducted an investigation and filed a final report that cleared Adityanath of the charges. In 2019, Allahabad High Court's special court for MPs and MLAs dismissed the 20-year-old murder case, upholding the CB-CID's findings and the CJM court's decision.

Relations with the BJP

In 1998, Yogi Adityanath was elected to the Indian Parliament after joining the BJP; however, there were reports of his strained relations with the state BJP leaders. It has also been alleged that he often derided and criticised the dilution of the Hindutva ideology by the BJP in the 1990s and early 2000s. Having established his independent power base in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, with the support of the Hindu Yuva Vahini and the Gorakhnath Math, he felt confident to be able to dictate terms to the BJP. When his voice was not heard, he revolted by fielding candidates against the official BJP candidates. The most prominent example was the fielding of Radha Mohan Das Agarwal from Gorakhpur on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket in 2002, who then defeated BJP Cabinet minister, Shiv Pratap Shukla by a wide margin. In 2007, Adityanath threatened to field 70 candidates for the state assembly against the BJP candidates. But he reached a compromise in the end. In the 2009 Parliamentary elections, Adityanath was rumoured to have campaigned against the BJP candidates who were then defeated.

Despite his periodic revolts, Adityanath has been kept in good humour by the RSS and the BJP leaders. The deputy prime minister L. K. Advani, the RSS chief Rajendra Singh and the VHP chief Ashok Singhal have visited him in Gorakhpur. During 22–24 December 2006, Adityanath organised a three-day Virat Hindu Mahasammelan at Gorakhpur at the same time as the BJP National Executive Meet in Lucknow. Despite the conflict, several RSS and VHP leaders attended the Mahasammelan, which issued a commitment to pursue the Hindutva goals despite the BJP's claimed "abandonment" of them.

In March 2010, he was among the few BJP leaders, who pushed for a discussion in the party on the women's quota issue, following Gopinath Munde's advocacy for OBC sub-quota within the Women's Reservation Bill.

In 2018, Adityanath supported and campaigned for fellow Hindu monk and BJP candidate Pratap Puriji Maharaj, the head of the Taratara math, in the Rajasthan state assembly election.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (2017–present)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders at the swearing-in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath

Adityanath was a prominent campaigner for the BJP in the 2017 assembly elections in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The state government appointed him as chief minister on 18 March 2017; he was sworn in the next day, after the BJP won the assembly elections.

Ministry allocation

Main article: First Yogi Adityanath ministry

After becoming the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath kept around 36 ministries under his direct control, including Home, Housing, Town and country planning department, Revenue, Food and Civil Supplies, Food Security and drug administration, Economics and Statistics, Mines and Minerals, Flood control, Stamp and registry, Prison, General administration, Secretariat administration, Vigilance, Personnel and appointment, Information, Institutional finance, Planning, Estate department, Urban land, UP state reorganisation committee, Administration reforms, Programme implementation, National integration, Infrastructure, Coordination, Language, External aided project, Relief and Rehabilitation, Public Service Management, Rent Control, Consumer protection and Weights and measures.

In his first cabinet meeting, held on 4 April 2017, the decision was taken to forgive loans to nearly 87 lakh (8,700,000) small and marginal farmers of Uttar Pradesh, amounting to ₹363.59 billion (US$5.1 billion). For India's Independence Day celebrations in 2017, his government singled out Muslim religious schools, requiring them to provide video evidence that their students had sung the Indian national anthem.

Law and order

See also: Bulldozer justice

In 2017, his government ordered the withdrawal of around 20,000 "politically motivated" cases, including those against himself and other politicians.

Adityanath ordered the forming of quasi-vigilante anti-"romeo" squads. He imposed a blanket ban on cow-smuggling and a stay on UPPSC civil service exam results, exams and interviews until further order. He imposed a ban on the vices of tobacco, paan and gutka in government offices across the state, and compelled officials to pledge to devote 100 hours every year for the Swachh Bharat Mission. More than 100 "black sheep" policemen were suspended by the Uttar Pradesh police.

Since 2017, Adityanath had ordered the closing of many slaughterhouses. As a direct consequence, the tanneries that sourced raw leather from the slaughterhouses were impacted. Several tanneries were also ordered to be shut down. The tannery industry was estimated to be worth ₹50,0000 crore in 2017. The industry directly or indirectly gave employment to more than 10 lakh people. Since 2018, through executive orders, Adityanath had closed around 200 tanneries out of more than 400 that were active in Jajamau, Kanpur.

In the first 10 months of his first term, he conducted four police encounters per day. National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the state government and a bench of three judges from the Supreme Court of India warned and issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government in this case.

Committee Against Assault on Journalists found that 138 cases of persecution of journalists were registered under Adityanath's term in Uttar Pradesh between 2017 and February 2022.

After the Citizenship Amendment Act protests in Uttar Pradesh, he put up hoardings with names, photographs and addresses of protestors. Only after the order of the High Court, which called his government's action "shameless" and an "unwarranted interference in privacy", the posters were removed.

Yogi Adityanath along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, inaugurating the Samsung manufacturing plant, the world's largest smartphone manufacturing factory, in Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Infrastructure development

In July 2018, Adityanath, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Moon Jae-in, president of South Korea, inaugurated the world's largest smartphone manufacturing factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. His government was credited for making 50 megawatts of power and a 22-kilometre-long (14 mi) electricity line in a record four months for the Samsung mobile plant.

Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath, Mohan Bhagwat and Nrityagopal Das unveiling the plaque to lay the foundation stone of Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, in Ayodhya on 5 August 2020

In November 2019, the government along with the Ministry of Defense laid the foundation stone of the Defence Industrial Corridor project in Jhansi. Adityanath held consultations with private firms in order to increase private investment in the defence corridor project. He subsequently inaugurated Defense Corridor in 26 February 2023. Uttar Pradesh government inked over 150 defence manufacturing contracts valued at Rs 24,000 crore in July 2024 for the UP Defence Industrial Corridor, spanning Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Aligarh, Chitrakoot, and Agra districts which will create an estimated 40,000 new jobs.

The New York Times relayed analysts' estimations of Adityanath as a candidate for Prime Minister of India in 2024, provided he "delivers on some fronts". In August 2020, India Today's "Mood of the nation" survey showed Adityanath as the best-performing chief minister in India.

Ordinance and bills

In September 2020, Adityanath asked his government to devise a strategy to prevent "religious conversions in the name of love", and even considered passing an ordinance for the same if needed. On 31 October, Adityanath announced that a Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 to curb "Love Jihad" would be passed by his government.

The Uttar Pradesh state cabinet cleared Adityanath's ordinance on 24 November 2020. following which it was approved and signed by state Governor Anandiben Patel on 28 November 2020.

In July 2021, Adityanath introduced the UP population control draft bill 2021–2030. On the event of World Population Day, the chief minister unveiled the policy on reducing population growth for the forthcoming years. There were also several benefits announced based on the laid single-child and two-child policies. He said the state population policy focused on efforts to increase the accessibility of contraceptive measures issued under the Family Planning Programme and provide a proper system for safe abortion. This policy also received lots of reactions and criticisms from other political parties. It was said that this policy mainly focused on the upcoming general elections in the state. The opposition Congress in the state has called it a "political agenda" and the Samajwadi Party said it is "murder of democracy".

Second term (2022–present)

Main article: Second Yogi Adityanath ministry

On 10 March 2022, with the announcement of the legislative assembly results, the BJP-led NDA alliance secured 273 seats with Adityanath winning his second term. He and his party wrote history, being the first chief minister to return to power after completing a full 5-year term in office. The BJP is also the first party to return to power consecutively after 37 years. He was only the third chief minister, in Uttar Pradesh's political history to complete a full 5-year term as the chief minister of the state after Mayawati of BSP and Akhilesh Yadav belonging to the Samajwadi Party.

In the buildup to the assembly elections, Adityanath successfully used a campaign with a bulldozer as its main image, earning him the nickname "Bulldozer Baba". The term had initially been used as a taunt by an opposition party. His speeches during the polls included hate speeches against Muslims, promoting religious polarisation and Hindu supremacy. Further, his speeches included the idea that the rights of Hindus are at odds with that of Muslims, where he repeatedly conflated Muslims with terrorists and criminals, and the opposition parties as appeasers of Muslims. Adityanath denied the accusations of the Samajwadi Party that the BJP is a sectarian party with a communal way of thinking, that the BJP's ideology is based on inclusivity and togetherness, not division and added that we believe in 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas (Together with all, trust of all)' and that the BJP's goal of "Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niraamaya," which means "May all be happy, may all be free from illness," was emphasised by Chief Minister Yogi as a governing principle." He is seen as a potential successor of Prime Minister Modi by a large group of Hindu Nationalists across the country.

Allegations and criticism

Concerns were raised for alleged maladministration in the appointments and recruitment of candidates to various departments of government. The opposition leaders from Samajwadi Party as well as BJP's own allies like Anupriya Patel criticised the Yogi government time and again for sabotaging the right of Other Backward Castes and Dalits. In a letter written to Uttar Pradesh government, Patel alleged that the appointment authorities under Adityanath government are labelling the OBC and SC, ST candidates as ineligible for appointment in the interview based appointment process to various departments of government.

The criticism also came from within the party and in 2023, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya wrote to the Appointment and Personnel department to publish the data of selection of candidates belonging to OBC, SC and ST communities to various departments of government.

Yogi Adityanath government was also criticised for malpractices in appointment of 69,000 teachers in state sponsored schools of Uttar Pradesh. Many candidates alleged that despite securing more marks than general caste candidates, they were placed in reserved quota and allotted the seats meant for reserved quota candidates, thus reducing their overall representation and increasing the representation of candidates belonging to general castes. In a reply in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Adityanath government later admitted that mismanagement has taken place in the appointments, which was followed by subsequent decrees of Allahabad High Court on reviewing the result and republishing it after considering the quota rules properly.

Furthermore, Adityanath was also criticised for bulldozer action against properties and lands allegedly claimed by him to be owned by criminals and mafia across the state of Uttar Pradesh, including politicians with criminal cases against them.

Political positions held

From	To	Position	Party
1998	1999	MP (1st term) in 12th Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur	BJP
1999	2004	MP (2nd term) in 13th Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur	BJP
2004	2009	MP (3rd term) in 14th Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur	BJP
2009	2014	MP (4th term) in 15th Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur	BJP
2014	2018	MP (5th term) in 16th Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur	BJP
2017	2022	Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (1st term) in 17th Uttar Pradesh Assembly MLC (1st term) in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council	BJP
2022	Present	Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (2nd term) in 18th Uttar Pradesh Assembly MLA from Gorakhpur Urban Assembly constituency (1st term)	BJP

Electoral history

Main article: Electoral history of Yogi Adityanath

Lok Sabha elections

Year	Constituency	Party		Votes	%	Result
1998	Gorakhpur		BJP	268,428	42.62	Won
1999		267,382	41.10	Won
2004		353,647	51.31	Won
2009		403,156	53.85	Won
2014		539,127	51.83	Won

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections

Year	Constituency	Party		Votes	%	Result
2022	Gorakhpur Urban		BJP	165,499	66.18	Won

In popular culture

In 2025, a biographical film titled Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi was announced, depicting his life. The film, inspired by Shantanu Gupta's book The Monk Who Became Chief Minister, explores his journey from a Nathpanthi monk to a prominent political leader as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The film was officially released on 19 September 2025.

Bibliography

• Haṭhayoga svarūpa evam sādhanā, Gorakhapura : Śrī Gorakshanātha Mandira, 2007, 148 p. On Hatha yoga.
• Adityanath, Yogi (2019). Rājayoga : svarūpa evaṃ sādhanā. Dillī. p. 192. ISBN 978-93-5322-406-6. OCLC 1102086331.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

See also

• The Monk Who Became Chief Minister
• Yogi Adityanath: The Rise of a Saffron Socialist

References

Sources

• Jha, Prashant (2014), Battles of the New Republic: A Contemporary History of Nepal, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-1-84904-459-2
• Basu, Amrita (2015), Violent Conjunctures in Democratic India, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-316-30018-3
• Gupta, Shantanu (2017), The Monk Who Became Chief Minister, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 9789386606426, archived from the original on 7 August 2017, retrieved 13 August 2017

Further reading

• Gupta, Shantanu (2017). The Monk Who Became Chief Minister: The Definitive Biography Of Yogi Adityanath. New Delhi: Bloomsbury India. ISBN 978-93-86606-42-6. OCLC 1002853059.
• Kumar, Pravin (2017). Yogi Adityanath: The Rise of a Saffron Socialist. New Delhi: Times Group Books. ISBN 978-93-86206-56-5. OCLC 1015857869.
• Adhikari, Shekhar (2018). Yogi Adityanath : Blend of Spiritualism and Political Realism. New Delhi. ISBN 978-93-86618-45-0. OCLC 1041543420.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Pradhan, Sharat; Chandra, Atul (2021). Yogi Adityanath: Religion, Politics and Power: The Untold Story. Penguin Random House India. ISBN 9789354922213.

External links

• www.yogiadityanath.in

Lok Sabha
Preceded by Mahant Avaidyanath	Member of Parliament for Gorakhpur 1998–2017	Succeeded by Praveen Kumar Nishad
Political offices
Preceded by Akhilesh Yadav	Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh 19 March 2017 – Present	Incumbent