Lucknow, Aug. 11: Yogi Adityanath's father today made a forecast that might interest Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"My son will become Prime Minister in 2024," Anand Singh Bisht told reporters at Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand, stressing that his prediction owed not to wishful thinking but to political calculation.
The retired forest ranger, who is in his late 70s, explained: "He (Adityanath) is doing a great job as Uttar Pradesh chief minister. I shall give him 10 out of 10. If he continues delivering so well, nobody can stop him from becoming Prime Minister in 2024."
In 2024, Adityanath will be 52 while Modi will be 74.
Bisht went on to compare his son's performance with that of Trivendra Singh Rawat, BJP chief minister of Bisht's home state, Uttarakhand.
"I shall give him nine out of 10. While this (Uttarakhand) government is slow to take decisions, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister is quick to do so," Bisht said.
He quickly qualified his statement in what appeared a placatory gesture: "It's because of the geographical condition of Uttarakhand that slow decisions are being taken."
Bisht said Adityanath was not just the leader of Uttar Pradesh. "He campaigned extensively in Uttarakhand during the last election and played a key role in the victory of Ritu Khanduri from the Yamkeshwar Assembly seat," Bisht claimed.
Adityanath's acolytes at the Gorakhpur Math, which he heads, have been saying since his elevation as chief minister on March 19 that he would be a strong contender for the Prime Minister's post in future.
"He is the only leader in the BJP who can replace Modi as Prime Minister in future. Of the 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh, Gorakhpur was the only one where everybody was agreed that Yogi would win even without campaigning," one of Adityanath's aides at the temple said.
"Despite a wave in favour of the BJP in 2014, our party had deployed a large number of campaigners from other states in the remaining seats, including Modi's constituency of Varanasi."
Hours after Adityanath was appointed chief minister, one of his aides had told The Telegraph: "The Prime Minister may have chosen Yogiji as chief minister so he (Modi) can sail through the 2019 general election by continuing the polarisation of votes, but Yogiji may grow bigger than Modi by 2024."
Bisht was at the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University to discuss the possibility of government said for a college affiliated to it that Adityanath had founded in 2005 as Gorakhpur MP.
The Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath Mahavidyalay is located at Yamkeshwar in Pauri Garhwal, Adityanath's home district where his family is based in Panchur village.