In Gorakhpur, ‘Yogi Baba’ steers Ravi Kishan’s rocky boat as SP’s Kajal Nishad rides on core base

Gorakhpur has been Yogi Adityanath’s bastion for decades. The two-term Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Adityanath, 51, had been a five-time MP from the constituency. He also heads the Gorakhnath Math, which has a significant influence in the east UP region.

In the Gorakhpur seat, which is going to vote in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha polls on June 1, the ruling BJP has renominated its sitting MP Ravi Kishan Shukla, actor-turned-politician, who is locked in a straight fight with the Samajwadi Party (SP)’s Kajal Nishad. Kajal is also a Bhojpuri film actress, who is contesting as the Opposition INDIA bloc’s joint candidate given the seat-sharing pact between the SP and the Congress.

The Gorakhpur battle is essentially between “Yogi Baba”, as Adityanath is popularly known in the region, and the INDIA alliance. Many voters across the constituency, in rural as well urban areas, are vocal about their choice, appearing divided over it. While a large section of the Gorakhpur people is strongly backing the BJP in Yogi’s name, hoping that the backward belt would see development in the coming years, another section is rallying behind the SP’s nominee, rooting for INDIA’s victory. Both sides also appear to be split along the caste lines, barring the Nishad community (OBC) which dominates Gorakhpur as it accounts for nearly one-fourth of its population.

The Nishad voters had played a key role in causing an upset in the 2018 Gorakhpur by-election when the then SP candidate Praveen Nishad had defeated the BJP’s Upendra Shukla by 21,801 votes. The bypoll was necessitated as the then MP Adityanath vacated the seat after taking oath as the CM for his first term in 2017.

His spiritual guru Mahant Avaidyanath won from Gorakhpur