NEW DELHI: After months of speculation over the leadership issue in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is now basking in the glory of the victory in the Zila Panchayat elections. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the party brass in hailing the chief minister for the victory, the BJP has seemingly given a clear message that the party will no more have ears for factionalism in the state unit.
With 66 of the 75 Zila Panchayat chairman seats in its kitty, the BJP is already going to the town with claims that the people in the state have rejected the “false narrative built by the Opposition over the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
While Zila Panchayat polls aren’t entirely known to be a true indicator to predict the outcome of the state Assembly elections, the BJP’s performance nonetheless has clearly made the brass of the party back to the chief minister fully. Along with the Prime Minister, top functionaries of the BJP in their congratulatory messages made it a point to credit the Adityanath along with the state unit chief Swatantra Dev Singh for the victory in the elections.
The Zila Panchayat elections appear to have given a shot in the arm of the chief minister, who faced speculation of the top party leadership sending the former senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) A K Sharma to keep a check on him.
After a series of meetings in the national capital, including one with the Prime Minister with the UP chief minister, Sharma was finally appointed the vice president of the state unit to put an end to all speculation about his role in the government besides the Cabinet reshuffle in Lucknow.