One of the more intriguing narratives being spun after the appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the new Uttar Pradesh chief minister is to liken his rise to Narendra Modi. Like Modi, Adityanath is a single man born in a poor family who left home at a young age and discovered himself in the womb of Hindutva politics. Like Modi, Adityanath too is charismatic and controversial, with a reputation for being a hard taskmaster. And like the PM, Adityanath too is viewed with a mix of fear and skepticism by the English-speaking liberal intelligentsia.

There must be a world beyond Yogi Adityanath I keep telling myself.

The first time I met Yogi Adityanath was in his bastion of Gorakhpur ahead of the 1999 general el
What a fine letter you have penned (without wasting any ink!): it is reassuring to fi