Lucknow, 3 Aug: The Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), founded in 2002 by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is set to be restructured and expanded from its traditional stronghold in eastern Uttar Pradesh to the western part of the state in In order to support the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a HYV leader said on condition of anonymity.
Adityanath made the decision to revamp HYV during his visit to Gorakhpur on Tuesday. Raghvendra Pratap Singh, the HYV’s state in-charge, abolished the state, regional, and district divisions, as well as the organizational departments, today.
The HYV was instrumental in Adityanath’s campaigns in 2004, 2009, and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, as well as in disseminating the “message of Hindutva” in rural eastern UP.
Singh stated that new state and district units would be formed as part of the HYV redesign process, and that the decision to reform the organization was made to provide opportunities to young and motivated workers. A conference of HYV leaders would be called shortly to discuss the rebuilding of the organization and the selection of new office bearers, according to Singh, who is considered Adityanath’s close aide.
Following Adityanath’s election as chief minister in March 2017, the HYV units in the Gorakhpur region were dissolved at the behest of the BJP.
Office bearers and members of the organization who protested against the decision were there. Sunil Singh, the state president at the time, was among them.
Later, the HYV retreated from political efforts to focus on social concerns such as ration distribution, Covid-19 and Japanese encephalitis awareness campaigns, migrant worker assistance, and tree plantations. It also started aiding local authorities with the execution of development and welfare programmes. After a five-year hiatus, HYV was reactivated on the political scene in January 2022, when the BJP announced that Yogi Adityanath will run for the Gorakhpur urban seat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The BJP won 28 of the 29 assembly seats in the Gorakhpur division, and HYV was instrumental in that success.
Adityanath founded the HYV in 2002, when his relationship with the BJP deteriorated due to disagreements over ticket allocation in the 2002 assembly elections. He had dared the BJP leadership at the time by fielding Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal on the Hindu Mahasabha ticket against BJP candidate Shiv Pratap Shukla.
According to SK Singh, a retired teacher residing in Gorakhpur, Agarwal trounced Shukla, cementing Adityanath position as the undisputed leader in eastern UP.
HYV volunteers were soon tasked with disseminating the Gorakhnath mutt’s Hindutva ideology. HYV’s membership grew from 300 in 2002 to 1.5 million in 2017. 500,000 youngsters joined the organization in Gorakhpur division alone as it created offices in villages.
