The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh will contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Gorakpur, as opposed to Ayodhya, which was predicted earlier.

The decision was announced by BJP’s state poll in charge and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan during the release of the first list of candidates on January 15.

Over a period of time, there were rumours that CM Adityanath might contest from the Ayodhya seat this time. For many, this seems to be a good decision while a section of Hindu voters is not too happy with the choice.

BJP also tried to play safe by choosing the Gorakhpur seat as Congress, BSP and other parties have not much presence in that area.

Why Gorakhpur And Not Ayodhya For Yogi?

CM Adityanath has been representing the Gorakhpur constituency multiple times. He is also the head priest of the Goraknath Math. It was also speculated that the Chief Minister will fight the elections this time from one of the temple towns — Ayodhya or Mathura — as he is claimed the successor of the ‘Ram Mandir Nirman’.

“Yogi Ji said he will contest from any seat which party decides,” Pradhan said.

A list of 107 candidates has been declared today. In the list, there are 44 OBC candidates and 19 Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates. The Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest from the Sirathu constituency in the Prayagraj district.

BJP has always promoted the Hindutva card and branded Yogi as an icon. So, workers and supporters were hoping that Yogi will choose the Ayodhya seat this time.

Opposition leader and Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe on this news. He said it is good that Yogi Ji has been sent to Gorakhpur Dham, he needs to stay there.

At present there have been few blows to BJP in recent days as 10 of its MLAs and 3 Cabinet ministers walked out the party. Leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini has joined Akhilesh’s party.