Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh CM: Rabble-rouser or do-gooder?

Dhruv Munjal travels to Gorakhpur to assess the ascetic's work and politics in his own playground

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Maan Mohammad is one of the caretakers at the temple complex’s gaushaala that houses 400 cows

Dhruv Munjal

Last Updated : Mar 27 2017 | 3:28 PM IST

In the middle of a long rectangular room in the administrative block at Gorakhnath Math lies an empty chair. Its occupant now is a saffron towel draped over it. The chair’s master has gone missing for the first time in nearly 20 years, someone points out. Some who make their way into the room after vaulting over the security ropes that surround the building show their veneration to the empty chair by bowing slightly, their right hand grazing the chest.

The city of Gorakhpur has messy traffic, derelict roads, unruly cattle that obstruct streets, and air thick with religiosity. But

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