Politics not profession for me, enter to change traditional way: Yogi Adityanath

Lucknow: Monk-turned-politician Yogi Adityanath claims he is not attached to power despite being in power. Asked why he chose to join politics when he was a sanyasi, he said he did so to work for the welfare of society. "Despite staying in power, there is no 'sanliptata' (attachment) with power for us. In fact, there is 'nirliptata' (non-attachment) with power for us. We are here for 'lok kalyan' and 'rashtra kalyan'," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told PTI recently before completing two years in office Tuesday. "Politics is not a profession for me. We have come to change the traditional politics of UP, which was confined to casteism and dynastic politics. Our aim is to take the state on the path of development, good governance and nationalism," he said. "Our endeavour is to make Uttar Pradesh a leading state in the country and I am happy to say that in the past two years, we have been successful to a great extent in doing so," he added. Yogi Adityanath adopted sanyas in 1994. The chief minister said, "When I was pursuing graduation, I came in contact with my guru Mahant Avaidyanath.

At that time Ram Janmabhoomi movement too was going on and he was prominently associated with it. I too had an affinity towards spirituality." Mahant Avaidyanath was a politician besides the head priest of Gorakhnath Temple. He had succeeded his guru Digvijay Nath. He was also linked to the Hindu Mahasabha and later represented Gorkhpur Lok Sabha constituency four times as a Bharatiya Janata Party MP. "I finally decided to take sanyas in 1993, and on Basant Panchami in 1994, my guru gave me 'diksha'," said the chief minister. Asked if he would like to give any advice to youths, he said, "Read 'Exam Warriors' written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is a must for all youngsters, especially students." The book helps youths "to face challenges boldly and not necessarily only exam blues", he said.