Hardline Hindu priest a handful for Modi in heartland Indian state

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath takes the oath as the new Chief Minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh during a swearing-in ceremony in Lucknow, India, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar

GORAKHPUR, India/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stunned the political establishment by promoting a hardline Hindu priest to one of the country's most powerful positions, Yogi Adityanath has sounded more statesman than rabble-rouser.

Gone is the fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric and promotion of Hindu supremacy for which the saffron-robed 44-year-old is known, and in its place is a message of social inclusion more akin to Modi's language since sweeping to power in 2014.