LUCKNOW: Losing four back-to-back bypolls under one's watch is enough reason for a chief minister to come under pressure from his party. But, then, Yogi Adityanath is no ordinary CM. The BJP leader's style of governance has got the endorsement of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which sees him as the one who can hold the BJP's fort in UP in the Lok Sabha elections next year.
On Tuesday, Adityanath met the Sangh's top brass, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and his deputy Bhaiyyaji Joshi in Delhi to apprise them of the performance of his 15-month-old government.
BJP sources said while the Sangh has thrown its weight behind Adityanath, some leaders also expressed concern over the benefits of welfare schemes and development projects not reaching the beneficiaries. Besides, the Sangh expressed displeasure over the alacrity with which some ministers as well as party functionaries rake up controversy after controversy. The Sangh is learnt to have asked them not to make careless statements that would dent the party's image.
During his day-long deliberations with the Sangh brass on Tuesday, Adityanath also discussed the first reshuffle of his Cabinet. According to sources, some faces may be dropped and new ones inducted. The UP government has 47 ministers and 13 more could be inducted.
A strategic organisational rejig in the state to balance 'caste equations' also came up for discussion, it is learnt.
Sources said the Sangh appreciated the way Adityanath tackled farmers and Dalit issues.
Leaders were particularly concerned about the jibes made by a number of party MPs, allies and functionaries in the recent past over Dalit atrocities as it gave the Opposition an opportunity to project not only the state but the central government as well as anti-Dalit.
After returning from Delhi, the CM flanked by his two deputies and organisational general secretary Sunil Bansal drove straight to the RSS state headquarters in Lucknow to consult RSS Sah Sarkaryawah (national joint general secretary) Dattatreya Hosabale. At the meeting, it was decided to make the forthcoming Kumbh a pivot for development activities and project it in a big way in villages and towns at least within 60 km radius.
In the Lucknow meeting, while the Sangh activists gave feedback on the prevailing administrative and political scenario at the grassroot-level and also people's perception about the government, the RSS exhorted all its outfits to draw a common roadmap for a well-coordinated strategy to dispel fear in the minds of some sections of the society about the BJP.