For the last few days this name, Yogi Devnath has become popular on social media, especially among Gujarati users. Even Gujarati media has jumped into this and for the last couple of days, many Gujarati news channels are published stories about Yogi Devnath on their respective websites. But still, two big questions remain… who is Yogi Devnath? Why he is called Yogi Adityanath of Gujarat.
Before we address the first question, let us discuss the second question that why Yogi Devnath is already considered to be Yogi Adityanath of Gujarat. The simple answer could be that Yogi Devnath is ‘gurubhai’ (according to Gujarati media) of Yogi Adityanath and you can see plenty of pictures of both of them together on the former’s Twitter handle.
Apart from this similarity, there is another similarity between Yogi Devnath and Yogi Adityanath and that is both are sanyasis and thus they are not married and both of them wear bhagwa attire 24×7 and 365 days. By going through the details available on the internet regarding Yogi Devnath one can get the idea that he is also a staunch Hindutva vaadi like Yogi Adityanath.
Just recently the Ambaji administration (Ambaji is in the North Gujarat where Gujarat’s lone Shaktipeeth is situated) banned the use of loudspeakers in the Hawan Shala of Ambaji Mandir. On the 18th of December Yogi Devnath Tweeted about this issue and lodged his protest. Yogi Devnath also cautioned the Ambaji administration that if the ban on Hawan Shala loudspeakers is not withdrawn then no loudspeakers will be allowed in the Masjids of the entire Gujarat state. After this tweet, the Ambaji administration had to withdraw its order.
शक्तिपीठ अंबाजी मंदिर की हवनशालामें लगे स्पीकर से ध्वनि प्रदूषण होता है,@CollectorBK ने मिली अर्जी पर कार्यवाही करते हुए वहां से तत्काल स्पीकर हटवाने के ऑर्डर दिया है अगर वहा से स्पीकर हटाए गए तो गुजरात की सभी मस्जिदों से भी भोंपू उतारे जाने चाहिएं @Bhupendrapbjp जी pic.twitter.com/Lk2IEZDY9o
— Yogi Devnath (@YogiDevnath2) December 18, 2021
This particular incidence has suddenly made Yogi Devnath’s name popular among the social media platforms and then a hashtag #गुजरात_के_योगी (Gujarat Ke Yogi or Gujarat’s Yogi) started to trend on Twitter. After that people started to dig Yogi Devnath’s Twitter handle and found many pictures of him with Yogi Adityanath and also Tweets praising Yogi’s various welfare works in Uttar Pradesh. The Tweets of pictures of both the Yogis are already viral on other social media platforms as well.
जो राम को लाएं है, हम उनको लाएंगे!
2022 में हम शान से कमल खिलाएंगे!!#योगी_बहुत_हैं_उपयोगी pic.twitter.com/l7FyDesESB— Yogi Devnath (@YogiDevnath2) December 18, 2021
ONE AND ONLY YOGI JI #योगी_बहुत_हैं_उपयोगी 🚩 pic.twitter.com/Nbbqwt3jM0
— Yogi Devnath (@YogiDevnath2) December 18, 2021
Now let us come to the first question we put across and that is who is Yogi Devnath?
The first introduction of Yogi Devnath is that he is the in-charge of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) in Gujarat. He is very much active on Twitter as mentioned above and he shares his views here regularly. By looking at the pictures, one can easily assume that Yogi Devnath is very close to Yogi Adityanath. He also has his website from where one can get more information about him.
According to the website, Yogi Devnath is the Mahant of Shri Ekaldham Ashram in Bharudiya village of Bhachau taluka (Kutch), Chairman of Shri Kutch Sadhu Samaj, Member of Akhil Bharat Sadhu Samaj, Incharge of Hindu Yuva Vahini Gujarat, and an active activist of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gujarat for last 25 years. The information is given on the website definitely explains Yogi Devnath’s religious and political affiliations.
From various Gujarati news websites, we learned that Yogi Devnath took sanyas at the age of 12 years and joined the ‘Nath Akhada’. He is a karyakarta of the Gujarat BJP for last two and a half-decade and doing social works related to health and education for the poor. People of Bhachau and its surroundings fondly call Yogi Devnath as ‘Devnath Bapu’.
Yogi Devnath has made his political aspirations clear in the last assembly elections of Gujarat in 2017 when he asked for the party’s ticket to contest the elections, but it wasn’t accepted by the high command. But, for the next Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022, it seems that Yogi Devnath will get the ticket from the Rapar assembly seat. Currently, Rapar is represented by the Congress party, and the way Yogi Devnath is increasing his image and popularity not only among the people of Kutch but also among the people of Gujarat, BJP will definitely try his name and his face to snatch the seat from Congress.
It will be too early to call on the future political career of Yogi Devnath, but the way he is gaining popularity among the youths of Gujarat, one can easily make a conclusion that Yogi is going to have a long and fruitful political career in Gujarat’s politics. If a Mahant can change the political scenario in Uttar Pradesh, why Gujarat should be left alone, isn’t it?
Do let us know if you have more information about Yogi Devnath in the comments section given below. We would also like to know your views about this feature.
eChhapu
