First definitive biography of a monk who has become the chief minister of the most populous state of India. It captures the journey of a shy and introvert boy from the hills of Uttarakhand who has now become a man of consensus. On 19 March 2017, Yogi Adityanath took an oath as the twenty first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. The book takes you through the journey of a shy and introvert boy from the hills of Uttarakhand, who had a modern education in the faculties of science from Kotdwar, later took sanyas and went through rigorous training in vedic education. From being a rebel politician inside and outside the party, he now has become a man of consensus. This book explores how a nathpanthi monk, learnt the nuances of politics from his guru, Mahant Awaidnath, and rose to take the highest position in Uttar Pradesh’s politics. Through extensive research I have accumulated unseen pictures, unheard instances, first-time interviews, with people close to Yogi, in this biography. A state with 22 crore people and 80 Lok Sabha seats, is one of the very crucial political pieces in India's electoral puzzle. With a history of producing many Prime Ministers for the country, the State has given yet another prospect for the Prime Minister’s office, in the post-Modi era in the form of Yogi Adityanath. You have in your hands the first definitive biography of a monk who has become the Chief Minister of the most populous state of India.
About the Author
Shantanu Gupta is the founder of a leading youth based organisation, Yuva Foundation, which works with youth and spreads awareness among them, on policy, politics and social issues. In the past he has worked for a renowned think tank, Center for Civil Society (CCS). Shantanu has worked long in the hinterlands of Bundelkhand with UNICEF in Uttar Pradesh. He has also lead large-scale remedial education interventions with Naandi Foundation in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and New Delhi. Shantanu has worked for a decade as a process and management consultant in many cities in India, Switzerland, Cyprus, Hungry and Israel. He has represented India in many international conferences on economy and policy, in Germany, Malaysia and Srilanka. Shantanu has an engineering degree from GB Pant University, Management education from XLRI, Jamshedpur and did his masters in policy and politics from Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex (United Kingdom). Before this, Shantanu has authored three more books—Education Policy in India - Voice, Choice and Incentives (CCS), Compilation of Prime Minister's Mann Ki Baat (Kapot Books) and Uttar Pradesh, Vikas Ki Pratiksha Mein (Bloomsbury).