Renaming India as Hindustan to Poorvanchal, Adityanath’s big ideas in Parliament

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is a 5-time MP. Here’s what he proposed in Parliament

Uttar Pradesh’s new chief minister Yogi Adityanath spent 18 years in Lok Sabha as a lawmaker. Through this period, the 44-year-old rabble rouser participated in several debates, asked questions to ministers and delivered speeches that sought to push the idea of a Hindu nation and marginalise the minority communities, especially Muslims.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Adityanath during his swearing-in ceremony as Uttar Pradesh chief minister on March 19. (Ashok Dutta/HT photo)

During this time, Adityanath introduced several private member’s bill with religious subtext. None of them became law.

Here’s a look at some of the controversial ideas he brought over the years to Parliament.

1.In 2015, he brought the Constitution (Amendment) Bill to insert a new article 25A in the Constitution to ban religious conversion by inducement or by force.

2. He also proposed that Article 1 of the Constitution be amended to replace the word ‘India’ with ‘Hindustan’.

3. In several speeches he demanded a nation-wide ban on cow slaughter, bringing in four private member’s bill on this between 1998 and 2009.

4. He also brought five bills – between 1999 and 2009 -- demanding a Uniform Civil Code.

5. In the last Lok Sabha, when the Congress-led UPA alliance was in power, Adityanath had also sought the creation of the separate state of Poorvanchal – where he holds sway – carved out of Uttar Pradesh.

6. In 2010, he led the chorus within the BJP against the women’s reservation bill. For someone who believes a woman’s primary role is to rear great men, he went against the party line on the subject, arguing a woman’s energy should be regulated lest it becomes destructive.