(FE)
Yogi Adityanath has been in news ever since he took over the reins as Uttar Pradesh chief minister. From closure of illegal abattoirs and setting up of anti-Romeo squads to farm-loan waivers, government purchase of wheat and potatoes, and notice to sugar mills for clearance of farmer dues, all his moves have kept him in the limelight. Notwithstanding differences of opinion on all such moves, he seems unrelenting. Many of his actions show concern for farmers, who have been getting a raw deal for years. Should he intend to be in it for the long haul, he would be better off taking a leaf from the “Shiv mantra”. But what is this Shiv mantra?
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, three-time CM of Madhya Pradesh (MP), has, like Yogi Adityanath, been a five-time member of Parliament before becoming CM in 2005. He is highly likely to continue into a fourth term when MP goes to polls in 2018. What made him such a hit with voters is what we call here the Shiv mantra, that Yogi could emulate. Shivraj concentrated on agriculture, which employs the largest share of the state’s workforce (54.6% in 2015-16 as per the Labour Bureau). MP’s agri-Gross State Domestic Product (agri-GSDP) grew at 9.7% per annum—the highest ever achieved by any state—for a decade-long period (2005-06 to 2014-15). All-India agri-GDP growth during this period was 3.5% and UP’s was even lower, at 3.2%. So, MP’s agri-performance has been over thrice as good as UP’s. Shivraj is the one champion of agriculture in India who has focused, persevered and delivered. How he did this is the mantra worth learning for Yogi, more so when UP is, in fact, more generously endowed than MP with nature’s gifts of fertile Gangetic soil and relatively abundant water.
