His performance in Uttar Pradesh, home to more than 220 million people and where he is chief minister, has reinforced the perception among some leaders of the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindu groups that support it that he could one day be prime minister.
The incumbent prime minister, Narendra Modi, is still hugely popular and looks set to win a third term in office when national elections come in 2024. But at 49, Hindu hardliner Adityanath is 22 years his junior, giving him time.
“The respect he commands is on a par with a federal cabinet minister now,” said a cabinet member who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media about internal discussions.
While BJP spokespeople declined to comment on Adityanath’s future, some political analysts believe he is too divisive a figure for the top job.
Adityanath once ran a private Hindu militia and his crackdown on crime, in which more than 150 alleged criminals and gangsters were killed in Uttar Pradesh during his first term, has drawn criticism on the one hand and appealed to many voters on the other.
India’s large Muslim minority also sees him as a poster boy for the BJP’s Hindu-first agenda that has inflamed tensions between the two communities. He denies being anti-Muslim.
“Modi is still the biggest brand on which people cast their vote,” said Rajani Ranjan Jha, a retired professor of social sciences at the Banaras Hindu University in Uttar Pradesh.
He added that Adityanath would be an option as a prime ministerial candidate only if the BJP and the religious organisations around it wanted to “go aggressive”.
Adityanath’s ability to deliver a big majority in Uttar Pradesh, where the large rural community was instrumental in resisting controversial farm laws through sometimes deadly street protests, has taken even some supporters by surprise.
The victory in a state seen as the bellwether of national politics came despite the state and federal government’s much-criticised handling of COVID-19.
The BJP’s coalition was leading in nearly 270 of the 403 seats, media reported, while the Election Commission said the party was ahead in enough seats to hold power.
BJP leaders said the likely win was the result of free staples being handed out to the poor during the pandemic, a crackdown on crime and the popularity of Modi and Adityanath, especially among the Hindu majority.
Unemployment in Uttar Pradesh, currently at 2.7 percent, is also well below the national average of 8.3 percent, although the state has one of India’s lowest labour participation rates, indicating that many people are not even looking for jobs.
Some BJP officials say the Uttar Pradesh results will go a long way to helping Modi in 2024, burnishing Adityanath’s credentials at the same time.
In an interview with Reuters news agency before the state’s seven-phase election began last month, Adityanath, wearing his trademark saffron cloak, deflected questions about his potential to succeed Modi, saying: “I am just a monk.”
“I will serve the people of the state till the party wants or else I will serve people through my … temple,” he said at his official residence in state capital Lucknow, referring to the temple in eastern Uttar Pradesh where he is head priest.
For some leaders of the Hindu Yuva Vahini – the Hindu Youth Force, which Adityanath founded – he is the natural successor to Modi.
“He is the best man after the retirement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sit in that chair,” said Pramod Kumar Mall.
This article first appeared on aljazeera.com