After the crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, everything was not going well in the party against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. But the way Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has praised CM Yogi in the recent past, it seems that everything is now moving towards resolution in the Uttar Pradesh BJP. As everyone knows that since the BJP Working Committee meeting last month, the responsibility of the defeat from the Samajwadi Party was being put on Yogi Adityanath.
The state’s deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were openly saying such things which directly meant that the responsibility of the defeat lies with the Uttar Pradesh government. But people from the Yogi camp were constantly saying that when they were not even heard in ticket distribution, then on what basis are they being blamed for the defeat. This is the reason why Yogi is demanding a free hand for the by-elections to be held in Uttar Pradesh in the coming days. If the report published in the Indian Express is to be believed, there is a thought of giving a free hand to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in these elections. In which a promise can be made to include him in both the decisions of ticket distribution and election campaign.
The CM had met with RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar in Lucknow on Wednesday. After that, CM Yogi was to reach Delhi on Thursday evening for a party meeting and personal talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda.
Last month, Yogi had given indications by appointing a minister in-charge for each seat
Express writes that people close to Adityanath say that he wants a free hand in finalizing the candidates in the by-elections and preparing the campaign strategy, and appointing party leaders as in-charge. The Chief Minister’s demand for a free hand comes after claims by his camp that his suggestions and inputs regarding the selection of grassroots workers, campaign strategy and candidates were ignored during the Lok Sabha elections, which reduced the BJP’s seats to 33, which is almost half of 2019. Since then, Yogi Adityanath had started preparing for the by-elections.
Yogi has the challenge of winning the by-elections on 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh to compensate for the loss in the Lok Sabha. In the month of July itself, CM Yogi had also prepared a special team of 30 for this. In which 30 ministers were assigned to work on those 10 seats where by-elections are to be held. However, both Deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak did not get a place in it. The reason for this was also that at that time both the Deputy CMs did not attend any meeting of the Chief Minister. The tension was at its peak. Obviously, at that time also the question arose whether this preparation of CM Yogi has the support of the organization?
In fact, on July 14, 2024, a BJP working committee meeting was going on in Lucknow to review the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. In the presence of BJP national president JP Nadda, some people from his own cabinet tried to target CM Yogi Adityanath. Which included both the deputy CMs. Two days later, on July 17, Adityanath held a meeting with ministers considered close to him at his residence, in which Maurya, the second deputy CM, Brajesh Pathak, as well as state president Bhupendra Chaudhary were absent.
Yogi tried his best to win the by-election
In fact, the way Yogi is working hard to win the by-elections, it is clear that he has already received signals from somewhere in this regard. Perhaps this is the reason why the CM has personally taken responsibility for 2 seats. Milkipur in Ayodhya and Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar. Milkipur fell vacant after Samajwadi Party’s sitting MLA Awadhesh Prasad caused the biggest upset for the BJP by winning from Faizabad under which Ayodhya falls in the Lok Sabha elections. In Katehari, SP MLA Lalji Verma defeated sitting MP and BJP candidate Ritesh Pandey. Yogi Adityanath organized several programs four times in two assembly seats or nearby areas. Keeping the Milkipur election in mind, Yogi was personally seen active to get justice for the victim’s family in the Ayodhya rape case. The CM is getting data prepared for every assembly. In which the problems there, the people there who can bring victory to the party, complete information of potential candidates is being collected.
Unemployment was cited as one of the main reasons for the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Yogi recently organised a job fair in Ayodhya. Before his Delhi visit on Thursday, the CM distributed loans and appointment letters in Meerapur assembly constituency of Muzaffarnagar. Such events have also been held earlier in Milkipur and Katehari assembly constituencies.
Signs of rapid praise of Yogi from Keshav Prasad Maurya’s mouth
Yogi conquered the first fort in UP just a few days ago when his arch rival Keshav Prasad Maurya started praising him. What and how happened to Keshav Prasad Maurya that he is praising Yogi Adityanath again and again. Actually, on a comment of the court regarding a recruitment in UP, Keshav Prasad Maurya said something which the central leadership found very bad. It is being said in the political corridors that after this, Keshav Prasad Maurya was made to understand that now no more rhetoric will be tolerated in UP BJP. After this, Maurya started praising Yogi. Actually, the central leadership has set a target of winning all the 10 seats in the upcoming by-elections in Uttar Pradesh. This is possible only when all the satraps of Uttar Pradesh work together.
This is the reason why Maurya has been praising Yogi a lot in the past few days. He said in a rally in Mirzapur that our double engine government is doing the best work in independent India. Mentioning the double engine government means giving equal credit to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ‘There is a BJP government in the country as well as in the state… You also know and believe that our double engine government is doing the best work in the history of independent India… Is there any other leader like Prime Minister Modi in the world? And is there any other Chief Minister like Yogi Adityanath in the country? The most powerful and influential leader in the world is our Prime Minister Modi… And in the country, when all the Chief Ministers are compared, the best work is being done under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.’
Not only this, he also praised Yogi on the occasion of Kalyan Singh’s death anniversary. He said that Kalyan Singh’s government had started good governance in UP, launched a series of development projects, started the fight against corruption. Whether it is about patriotism or Ram Bhakti, Kalyan Singh did not compromise with the dignity of the country and the people. Today, under the leadership of CM Yogi, no compromise is being made on the issue of Ram Bhakti or Rashtra Bhakti. CM Yogi is moving ahead on the path of Kalyan Singh.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)