NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW : Amid rumblings within the UP BJP, party’s principal strategist and Union home minister Amit Shah had a long meeting with Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday at the latter’s residence. This preceded UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary calling on the PM and reportedly taking responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
Party sources hinted that PM-Shah meeting covered the emerging situation in the UP unit, particularly in the wake of the recent LS poll results. “They would have discussed PM’s scheduled meetings with party CMs and their deputies later this week,” said a source.
“A discussion on Modi’s meeting with party workers and Delhi party staffers on Thursday at the BJP headquarters could also have figured in the PM-Shah meeting,” he said.
Sources said the central leadership has delivered a strong message to all state units to avoid statements and posts that may spark controversy or show differences within the party.
Amit Shah is learnt to have briefed the PM on the party affairs in UP and what transpired at the meeting between deputy CM Keshav Maurya and party chief JP Nadda on Tuesday.
There is the least chance of a change of guard in UP but some organisational changes seem to be in the offing, not only in UP, but in many states.
Maurya’s differences with UP CM Yogi Adityanath are being projected as a challenge for the party. Maurya had earlier said that the party is always bigger than the government and that no one could be bigger than the organisation.
The unfolding events in Lucknow hinted that contrary to the speculation about “major leadership changes” both in the state government and the party, the BJP is not considering “any surprises” for the Yogi Adityanath government.
Political circles have been abuzz with an ongoing Yogi- Maurya tussle, which has been existent since 2017 when, despite having won the Assembly polls with a big majority under the stewardship of Maurya as the state BJP chief, Yogi Adityanath was chosen to helm the state much to his chagrin.
In the current situation, Maurya batted for the ‘organisation first’ at the party’s state executive meeting in Lucknow on Sunday. He is believed to have flagged his reservations about Yogi’s style of governance with the central leadership. However, he and state unit chief Bhupendra Chaudhury have been told to work to create synergy between the state and the party organisation.
Both the leaders are believed to have got the message from the party president in no uncertain terms that they would have to work in tandem. They were also reportedly told not to allow social media space to sprout rumours that would provide ammunition to the Opposition.
The BJP, it is learnt, is keen on having an OBC leader as its state chief to bounce back from the LS poll debacle, which saw the party tally dipping to 33 seats from 62 in 2019. The focus will be on state polls, which are just three years away in 2027.
The incumbent UP BJP chief comes from the Jat community. He was appointed in 2022 to quell the resentment within the community against the BJP owing to the three scrapped farm laws.
However, now the party leadership is looking at replacing Chaudhury with an OBC leader as the state unit, in its attempt to woo the community that somewhat drifted away from it in 2024 Lok Sabha election. Significantly, OBCs account for more than 42 per cent of the state’s population.
After a resounding victory in the last two state assembly polls in 2017 and 2022, the BJP will be determined for a hat-trick. That is why speculation is rife about changes in the party organisation.