Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel at the Raj Bhawan in Lucknow on Wednesday evening. The meeting came amid indications of the BJP’s central leadership possibly effecting some major changes in its Uttar Pradesh unit which is believed to have been divided over accountability for its dismal show in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
An open rift is in play in UP among two of its top leaders — CM Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya — at loggerheads with each other. Notably, Maurya met BJP president JP Nadda on Wednesday. The meeting was followed by BJP’s state unit chief Bhupendra Chaudhary calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also met the Prime Minister.
Reports so far suggest that the meeting between Adityanath and the Governor is around the upcoming Monsoon session of the Assembly. However, BJP sources said the possibility of a Cabinet revamp is not ruled out.
The BJP’s tally almost dropped by half from 62 seats in 2019 to 33 seats in UP in the Lok Sabha elections this year. While Chief Minister Adityanath has maintained that “overconfidence” and the inability of alliance partners in winning voters of their respective communities was collectively to blame for the damage, Maurya sought to pin the accountability on the former.
“The pain of the BJP cadre and mine is the same. The organisation is bigger than the government. Nobody is bigger than the organisation,” Maurya said at a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh BJP Executive Committee in Lucknow. The meeting was part of a prolonged review process within the BJP to assess its losses in the state in the elections. Notably, Maurya is also learnt to have skipped a few important Cabinet meetings in what was seen as a form of protest against the Chief Minister’s style of functioning.
A section of BJP leaders as well as those from alliance partners have sought to suggest that Adityanath gave prominence to officials over the leaders from his own government as well as the party cadre. This, they claim, has led to a sense of alienation not just within the ruling alliance but the government and the people.
Meanwhile, big changes are also on the cards at the organisational level in the state following the drubbing the party received in the general elections. BJP’s state president Chaudhary, who hails from the Jat community, may be replaced by an OBC face of the party on the post. The move is being seen as an attempt by the central leadership to quell differences and present a united face ahead of the byelections and the subsequent Assembly elections in the state in 2027.