Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath faces dissenting voices, changes in BJP state unit likely after by-polls
Yogi Adityanath from some BJP leaders as well as NDA partners in the state have led to speculations that there may be a change of guard after the by-elections to ten vacant Vidhan Sabha seats are over. While any such move will come at a cost that the high command will have to factor-in, a reshuffle in the party’s organizational set-up appears more imminent.
The contest between Yogi Adityanath and deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, who has been vocal about his disenchantment and not hidden his ambitions, goes back to the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections. A strong OBC leader and the then BJP unit president, Maurya played a key role in BJP’s impressive performance where it won 312 seats. He was naturally a contender for the CM post. Most of the candidates fielded by BJP were of his choice and hence backed him.
BJP Chief Amit Shah decided to make Yogi Adityanath the CM, ostensibly keeping the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in mind. In the fight between Kamandal and Mandal, Hindutva usually trumps caste as religious polarization blurs the community differences. Maurya had to settle for the Deputy CM post and also share the post with Dinesh Sharma, a Brahmin leader.
There are more profound reasons for the ongoing rift. While Yogi is seen as a strong Hindutva face by the BJP cadre in various states, in UP there is a perception that he has worked as a Thakur leader and promoted leaders and officials from his caste. He has also allegedly functioned with the help of bureaucrats and the police, treating his ministers and MLAs as lesser
