Yogi dissolves UP unit of Hindu Yuva Vahini

HYV’s UP in-charge, Raghvendra Pratap Singh, dissolved the state, regional and district units as well as organisational departments.

The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) was dissolved on Wednesday, a senior leader of the outfit said, adding that it will be revamped to spread its footprint from its traditional base in eastern Uttar Pradesh to the western part of the state.

The Hindu Yuva Vahini had played a key role in Adityanath’s campaign in the 2004, 2009 and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

HYV’s UP in-charge, Raghvendra Pratap Singh, dissolved the state, regional and district units as well as organisational departments.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had launched the HYV in 2002. The decision to dissolve the UP unit was taken after a visit by him to Gorakhpur on Tuesday, a senior official of the outfit said, asking not to be named.

The HYV had played a key role in Adityanath’s campaign in the 2004, 2009 and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

UP in-charge Singh told reporters the outfit will be revamped with the constitution of new state and district units. “The old units were working since long and the decision was taken to overhaul the organisation by giving an opportunity to young and committed workers,” he said.

Singh, who is also a close aide of Adityanath, said a meeting of HYV leaders will be held soon to discuss reconstitution of the organisation.

The HYV leader mentioned above said the rejig was a bid to assist the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

After Adityanath became chief minister in March 2017, HYV units in the districts of Gorakhpur region were disbanded on the request of the BJP leadership. The outfit’s office bearers and members, who rebelled against the decision, were expelled from the organisation — including the then state president Sunil Singh.

The outfit then withdrew from political activities to focus on social issues.

In January 2022 however, the outfit started political activities once again after the BJP decided to field Adityanath from the Gorakhpur Urban seat for the Assembly election. The BJP bagged 28 of the 29 assembly seats in the Gorakhpur division.

A BJP leader state unit leader who does not wished to be named said HYV is playing an important role in strengthening the base of the party in various districts by launching various social and mass awareness campaigns. The HYV cadre spread in urban and rural areas worked for the victory of the BJP in the 2022 assembly elections, he said.

Differences between Adityanath and the BJP brass in 2002 over ticket distribution had led him to form the HYV.

At the time, Adityanath had challenged the BJP leadership by fielding Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket against BJP candidate Shiv Pratap Shukla. Agarwal defeated Shukla, establishing Adityanath as the unchallenged leader in eastern UP, said SK Singh, a retired teacher based in Gorakhpur.

Singh said over the year, HYV numbers swelled from 300 in 2002 to over 15 lakh in 2017. In Gorakhpur division alone, five lakh youth joined the outfit as it opened offices in villages, he added.

The activities of the HYV however, did not go down well with the local BJP leaders who considered the outfit a “private outfit of Adityanath to serve his political interests.”

They urged the party leadership to curtail the activities of the HYV after Adityanath became CM, said a HYV leader who did not wish to be named.

Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), launched by Yogi Adityanath in 2002, will undergo restructuring and spread its footprints from its traditional base eastern Uttar Pradesh to western Uttar Pradesh to assist the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, said a HYV leader who did not wish to be named.

The decision to restructure HYV was taken during chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit to Gorakhpur on Tuesday.