The BJP’s Hindutva mascot has contradicted the BJP’s Hindutva conscience.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday sought to belligerently disapprove of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s message of harmony, appearing to chart a course Narendra Modi had taken more than a decade back to reach Delhi from Ahmedabad.

While Bhagwat had sent out a message of harmony and appeared critical of post-Ayodhya mosque-temple controversies, Adityanath has alleged a “hellish conspiracy” against Sanatan Dharma, which he identified as “the national religion of Bharat”.

“I would say that only Sanatan Dharma can bring peace across the world. Sanatan Dharma is the national religion of Bharat. Bharat will remain till there is Sanatan Dharma. We all should work together to protect it,” Adityanath said at a religious event in Ayodhya on Friday.

His remark came a day after Bhagwat batted for an inclusive society and said the world needed to be shown that the country could live in harmony, firmly disapproving of a rising trend (particularly in Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh) to allege that Mughal-era mosques had come up by razing temples and flood courts with pleas for reclamation.

Adityanath’s comments contradicting Bhagwat were seen in the BJP circles as a desperate bid by the second-term chief minister of India’s largest state to emerge as the worthy successor of “Hindu Hriday Samrat” Modi. The question “who will succeed Modi” has gained momentum in the wider Sangh Parivar and a perception has grown that Adityanath wants to assert himself as the most preferred candidate.

Delivering a lecture on “India — The Vishwaguru” in Pune on Thursday, Bhagwat had said: “We can provide a model of harmony to the world. After the construction of the Ram temple, some people think that they can become the leader of the Hindus by raising similar issues at other places. This is not acceptable.”

Seeking to go against this, Adityanath on Friday hinted at the supremacy of the Hindu religion and said: “I always say that the only path to save humanity in the world is Sanatan Dharma. Respect it. The world will remain safe if Sanatan Dharma is safe. No other religion talks about the welfare of all…. The world is a family for them (Hindus). Sanatan is the only religion which protects every caste, every religion and every sect in the time of crisis and allows them to flourish.”

After the 2002 communal riots under his watch in Gujarat, Modi had emerged as the poster boy of Hindutva and Adityanath appears to be trying to emulate that model, many BJP leaders feel. “The upcoming Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj (previously Allahabad) is being strategically used by Yogiji to build a Modi-like brand — of a Hindutva icon who is also an able administrator,” a BJP leader said.

Insiders claim that the RSS, too, has thrown its weight behind Adityanath, seeking to back him as a successor to Modi against Union home minister Amit Shah. In this context, many in the BJP saw Bhagwat’s harmony message as mere posturing. “Yogi cannot afford to disapprove of the RSS chief’s message. If he is doing so then there is a method in this madness,” a BJP old-timer said.

Claims of mosques standing on the ruins of temples have recently found their way to the courts, sweeping aside a call by Bhagwat in June this year not to “look for a Shivling under every mosque”. Such a push could not have happened without the approval of the RSS, several BJP old-timers said.

On Thursday, Bhagwat iterated what he had said in June. “New disputes are raked up every day. How can this be allowed? This shouldn’t continue. India needs to show that we can live together,” the RSS chief said. “There was a need for a Ram temple and it was built in Ayodhya. But creating discord and enmity in the name of new issues every day must not happen. We should show the world that we can live in harmony.”

However, Adityanath appeared adamant about moving forward with his Hindu supremacy agenda. “I want to ask you who were those people who harmed the symbols of Sanatan in the past? What was their intention? They conspired to make the entire earth a hell,” he said, citing the examples of the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, Krishna Janmbhoomi in Mathura and the prophecy that Vishnu’s future incarnation as Kalki would be born in Sambhal.

Four people were killed in the violence that erupted in Sambhal on November 24 when a court-appointed team arrived for a survey of the Jama Masjid to ascertain whether the Mughal-era mosque was built by demolishing a Harihar temple.

Adityanath had claimed in the Assembly a few days ago that they had found an old Shiva temple in Sambhal that had been “kept hidden” from Hindus for several decades.

However, residents said that the temple had always been in plain sight and had been closed down by the local administration during a riot in 1978.

After Sambhal, the Hindutva groups have started cleaning and renovating abandoned temples in Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh and Varanasi with the help of the local administration.

A political analyst in Lucknow told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity: “The Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s speech in Ayodhya is a reply to Bhagwat for his comments in Pune. Bhagwat may understand that the expansion of the temple-mosque dispute may lead to the destruction of the country, but Yogi or any other politician is not bothered about long-term repercussions. Politicians look for immediate gains and Adityanath is not an exception.”

“There are dozens of abandoned temples in every district of this country. The new breed of Hindus has enough scope to create euphoria around religion in the country in general and Uttar Pradesh in particular,” he added.

Ram Gopal Yadav, general secretary of the Samajwadi Party and a Rajya Sabha member, said: “What Bhagwat has said is true but his disciples are not listening to him and not following his instructions. He should take action against such leaders.”