Former Hindu Yuva Vahini Chief Sunil Singh, Once Yogi Adityanath’s Right Hand, Joins Samajwadi Party

Former chief of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) Sunil Singh on Saturday joined the Samajwadi Party in the presence of party chief Akhilesh Yadav and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Sunil Singh, who was once widely known as Yogi Adityanath’s right hand at least till he became Uttar Pradesh chief minister, was expelled from the HYV, formed by Adityanath in 2002, on charges of indiscipline in 2017. He later created Hindu Yuva Vahini (Bharat) along with several other HYV rebels and declared himself as its president.

On the induction of Sunil Singh, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “The days of the Adityanath government are numbered and the countdown has already begun.”

The former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav said that the workers of HYV were with SP now and that they would ‘unmask the ‘real intentions of the BJP’. He also accused the BJP government of slapping cases against opposition leaders for protesting against its policies.

Earlier, HYV was founded to promote “Hindutva and nationalism” and it went on to play a crucial role in Adityanath’s increasing cult in Uttar Pradesh.

The strains between BJP and HYV became apparent when HYV members sought to contest Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017, a demand which was earlier rejected by the BJP.

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Just before the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Singh had threatened to field HYV candidates against BJP nominees to protest the denial of tickets and thus, was removed from the Hindu outfit.

Singh's proximity to the Samajwadi party started growing after he was also slapped with the National Security Act and was jailed for his alleged involvement in violence at Gorakhpur in 2018.

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He wanted to file his nomination for the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Gorakhpur constituency as a candidate of the Hindustan Nirman Dal launched by Pravin Togadia, the former Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader. However, the district magistrate and returning officer of Gorakhpur K Vijayendra Pandian ordered the cancellation of his nomination on technical grounds, prompting Singh to allege that it was done at the behest of Adityanath. 

(With PTI inputs)