LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Wednesday said the party is bigger than the government, a cryptic remark on X that has fuelled speculation over a "rift" in the BJP state unit.
"The organisation is bigger than the government, the pain of the workers is my pain. No one is bigger than the organisation, the workers are the pride," the post shared by the office of the deputy CM on X said.
It quoted a part of Maurya's address during the BJP's working committee meeting in Lucknow on Sunday.
The post also had a picture of the meeting in the backdrop.
"The organisation was bigger than the government and will always be bigger. The doors of my residence at 7 Kalidas Marg are open to everyone. I am Deputy Chief Minister later but first I am a worker," Maurya said in the meeting.
He also urged all the ministers, MLAs, and public representatives to respect party workers.
The post comes a day after Maurya met BJP president J P Nadda in New Delhi amidst rumours of an alleged rift between him and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Neither the BJP nor Maurya said anything about the meeting while senior BJP leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Minister Swatantra Dev Singh and Finance Minister Suresh Khanna, have also remained mum.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged "infighting" in the BJP and claimed it was harming people's welfare.
"In this fight for power, it is the people of Uttar Pradesh who are suffering," Yadav told reporters at the SP headquarters here earlier in the day.