Uttar Pradesh 2022: Yogi's bulldozer, BJP's poll juggernaut

Beginning the year with a big win in the assembly polls the Bharatiya Janata Party also breached the Samajwadi Party citadels in Azamgarh and Rampur building momentum for 2024 General ElectionThe party conquered Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khans bastion in Rampur winning the byeelections for the Lok Sabha seat and the Rampur Sadar assembly constituency which had elected Khan 10 times in a rowBut its winning streak broke with bypoll defeats in Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency which had fallen vacant after the death of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Khatauli assembly segment it had won in the 2017 and the 2022 state electionsThe year saw controversies over the use of bulldozers to demolish properties of alleged gangsters and a revival of sorts of templemosque disputes in Varanasi and MathuraAlso read 2022 saw completion of delimitation process revision of electoral rolls in JKDashing the hopes of a resurgent SP led by Akhilesh Yadav the BJP registered a comfortable victory in the FebruaryMarch assembly election paving the way for the return of Yogi Adityanath as chief minister for a second consecutive term a rare firstindecades feat in Uttar Pradesh politicsThe state polls on which the nations attention was hooked saw an improved performance by the SP which got 111 seats out of 403 against 47 five years ago But the Congress two seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party one seat were decimatedLater the BJP won Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats where bypolls were held after Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan vacated them on becoming MLAsThe BJP also wrested the Muslimdominated Rampur Sadar assembly seat which had been Khans pocket borough for nearly 45 years BJPs Akash Saxena defeated Khans pick Asim RajaThe bypoll was held there following Khans disqualification from the assembly after the district court sent him to prison for three years in a hate speech caseAnother conviction led to twoterm BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini being disqualified from Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar The Rashtriya Lok Dal won the bypoll there defeating Sainis wife fielded by the BJPUrban local body polls are next Earlier this week the Allahabad High Court scrapped an election notification by the UP government for not following the Supreme Court guidelines while reserving seats for the Other Backward Classes in these pollsAs the opposition targets the BJP over the iquestantiOBCiquest development Adityanath has said the municipal polls will be held only with the OBC reservation A day after the legal setback his government has appointed a commission to set things rightThe chachabhatija drama continued to play on the sidelinesNudged by Mulayam Singh Yadav his son Akhilesh Yadav and brother Shivpal Singh Yadav came together before the assembly elections only to separate again after the results were out and the senior Yadav appeared to be drifting towards the ruling BJPMulayam Singh Yadavs death on October 10 however again brought the uncle and the nephew together the fourth time in six years Shivpal Singh Yadav even campaigned for Akhilesh Yadavs wife Dimple in Mainpuri to protect Mulayams legacyDuring the campaign Akhilesh Yadav touched his uncles feetAdityanaths second term saw bulldozers demolishing properties of alleged criminals and people involved in riots earning the CM the sobriquet of iquestBaba Bulldozer Those on the receiving end included politiciancriminals Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq AhmedThe opposition accused the BJP government of mainly targeting Muslims But the government said the properties were built illegally and each time the process of law was followed in razing themThe Adityanath government got loudspeakers dialled down or removed from mosques and establishments of other faiths Officials also acted rapidly in cases of the namaz being offered on roads and other public placesThe Ram temple construction in Ayodhya gained pace and the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust said devotees will be able to offer prayers there in January 2024But the construction of a new mosque in Ayodhya on a fiveacre site is yet to start with the IndoIslamic Foundation waiting for clearance of building plans by the Ayodhya Development AuthorityThe 2019 Supreme Court judgment on the Ayodhya dispute had paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple at the site where the Babri mosque was demolished in 1992 The court had also ordered allocation of land for building a new mosqueThe simmering Gyanvapi mosqueKashi Vishwanath temple dispute came into focus again this year with a Varanasi court allowing a videography survey of the mosque located next to the temple The district court is hearing a plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily prayers before idols on a mosque wall The Allahabad High Court is also in the pictureAnd cases related to Krishna JanmabhoomiIdgah mosque dispute are being heard in Mathura courts as well as the high courtThe UP government ordered surveys of private madrasas statewide triggering a row briefly It said it planned to ensure that subjects like Science and computer literacy are also taught thereApart from the Deepotsav on the banks of river Saryu in Ayodhya where lakhs of earthen lamps are lit ahead of Diwali the state this year also hosted a monthlong KashiTamil Sangamam showcasing the cultural bond between Tamil Nadu and the pilgrim townA fire at Levana Suites hotel in Lucknow left four people dead and at least 10 injured highlighting negligence towards fire safety normsAs 2022 neared its end the state government sent its ministers abroad to invite investors to a global summit in FebruaryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever