A rift has surfaced in the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), formed by Yogi Adityanath in 2002, with its former leader Sunil Singh creating a splinter outfit of the same name and declaring himself its national president.
However, the Vahini's state general secretary P K Mall said that HVY has nothing to do with Singh's group, as he along with some others were removed from the outfit by chief patron Adityanath on January 30, 2017, on charges of indiscipline.
Singh claimed that he recently held a meeting with senior HYV leaders and was unanimously elected the national president of the outfit, and he was carrying forward the agenda of his "guru" Adityanath.
Refuting the claim, Mall said, "No member of the Hindu Yuva Vahini attended the so-called meeting in Lucknow last week. Those expelled by chief patron Yogi Adityanathji on the charge of indiscipline are creating confusion."
"We had said that if he was not made the chief minister, we will protest against the BJP. We fought for the honour of our guruji," Singh said, adding, "We also demanded that devoted HYV activists should be given tickets to contest elections."
Asked about reports that his organisation was named Hindu Yuva Vahini (Bharat), he said, "It will be Hindu Yuva Vahini, and we will be working for it."