Speculation is rife that all is not well within the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Uttar Pradesh unit after the party suffered a setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when its tally dropped to 33 (out of 80 UP seats) from 62 in 2019. A series of meetings between the state leadership and the high command has further stoked reports of a possible reshuffle within the state unit.
This comes amid allegations of differences between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Keshav Prasad Maurya, one of the deputy CMs. During a review meeting of the party last week, Adityanath blamed the party’s “overconfidence” for the poor performance, while the latter said the government could never be bigger than the party organisation.
Amid this buzz, on Tuesday, BJP national president J.P. Nadda held separate meetings with Maurya and the party’s state unit chief Bhupender Chaudhary at party headquarters, reported Hindustan Times. While there has been no word on what transpired at the meeting, there is speculation that a change in roles could be on the cards, the report added.
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According to an ABP News report, a reshuffle could soon take place within the UP BJP but it is still not clear what changes will be made at the organisational level.
“There is a possibility that the deputy CM, an OBC face of the party who has the backing of the RSS (the ideological fount of the BJP) may be given an organisational position,” a party functionary told Hindustan Times.
“Maurya’s discomfort with (chief minister) Yogi Adityanath is also not a secret... Therefore, a new role for him will not be surprising,” the functionary added.Party sources also told ABPNews that the BJP’s allies in UP have raised with Nadda issues related to coordination with the government and lack of say in governance.