The BJP is reportedly planning an organisational overhaul in Uttar Pradesh following its dismal performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections, where it secured 36 seats compared to the Congress-Samajwadi Party’s 43. The results sparked internal discord within the state unit.
On Wednesday, state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya held discussions with BJP national president JP Nadda, intensifying speculation about a major restructuring.
According to reports, Chaudhary has taken responsibility for the party’s poor show and offered to step down. The BJP may appoint an OBC leader as its state chief. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the next move.
Reports suggest tensions are brewing between Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya. In an effort to mitigate these concerns, the central BJP has instructed state leaders to stop public fights and focus on the upcoming bypolls in 10 assembly seats.
Speculation about discord between the leaders surfaced after Maurya skipped several cabinet meetings chaired by Adityanath over the past month. On Wednesday, both deputy Chief Ministers Maurya and Brijesh Pathak skipped the meeting of ministers chaired by the CM.
Recently, during a BJP gathering in Lucknow attended by Adityanath and over 3,500 delegates, Maurya said that “no government is greater than the organisation (sangathan).”
Maurya’s comments echoed a sentiment among some BJP leaders that bureaucratic influence in Uttar Pradesh has overshadowed the party’s organisational focus, which had an impact on the recent electoral outcomes.
Last week, speaking at the BJP state leaders’ meet, Adityanath had said “overconfidence” cost the BJP dearly in the Lok Sabha polls. “The percentage of votes that was in favour of BJP in 2014 and subsequent elections, BJP has been successful in getting the same number of votes in 2024 as well, but the shifting of votes and overconfidence have hurt our expectations,” Adityanath said, calling upon party workers to step up preparations for the upcoming bypolls.
Meanwhile, Maurya met with BJP chief JP Nadda on Tuesday. The agenda reportedly centered around BJP’s strategy for the bypolls and a review of the party’s lackluster performance in the Lok Sabha polls. This was their second meeting within 48 hours.
Maurya, a former UP BJP chief, lost the 2022 Assembly election but remained in Deputy Chief Minister’s chair. He is currently a member of the legislative council.
Cornering the BJP over the infighting in its UP unit, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that BJP leaders are fighting among themselves and it’s affecting governance.
“The people know about the corruption and are fed up with the game of thrones,” Yadav said at a party event.
The former UP chief minister had earlier said that the administration had been put on the back burner as the state’s BJP leaders compete with each other. “The BJP, which engineered splits in other parties, is now doing the same within. This is why it is sinking in the quicksand of infighting. There is no one in the BJP to think for the people,” Yadav wrote on X.
Responding to the SP chief, Maurya posted on X, “The return of SP’s reign of goons in UP is impossible. BJP will repeat 2017 in the 2027 state polls.”
