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BJP holds unity meetings to stitch up loose ends
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday put up massive unity show, scripted by general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, who is on his second back-to-back visit to the state capital
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday put up massive unity show, scripted by general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, who is on his second back-to-back visit to the state capital.
After a surprise luncheon meet, largely interpreted as a patch-up bid, for which chief minister Yogi Adityanath drove to his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya’s residence and that took place in the presence of key RSS leaders, including Dattatreya Hosbale and Krishna Gopal, the BJP leadership supervised another visible unity effort.
Shortly, the scene shifted to the BJP office where the party held an even bigger show, inviting all the former state BJP chiefs for a crucial meeting that featured the chief minister, his ministers and top-level BJP functionaries.
Described by UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev as meeting of ‘satta aur sangathan’ (government and organisation), the meeting featured sidelined leaders like former BJP chiefs Vinay Katiyar, an OBC and a product of the temple movement, and Laxmikant Bajpai, a Brahmin.
Also seen was the newly inducted former Congress leader Jitin Prasada amid indications that the BJP would organise more high profile joining of key leaders of other parties in the run-up to the elections. BJP stalwarts, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, are expected to visit UP regularly from July onwards.
Since Monday, BL Santhosh, seen as an emissary of top BJP leadership, has been holding series of meetings, including ones with RSS leaders, chief minister, ministers and party functionaries. He had also tweeted in praise of Adityanath on Monday, his third tweet praising the CM.
“We will win an even bigger majority than in 2017 UP polls,” said Laxmikant Bajpai while denying that there were any misgivings between him and the party. Party leaders said ahead of assembly polls, the BJP, having fared behind Samajwadi Party in the first round of panchayat polls, is now looking to even the score by winning maximum number of zila panchayat chairpersons’ posts in the July 3 elections.
Ever since he visited UP and held feedback sessions between May 31 to June 2, BL Santhosh has been working on party’s unity plan ahead of crucial assembly elections.
Also, among those who arrived for the unity meeting was the newly appointed BJP vice president AK Sharma, a former IAS officer who worked with PM Modi, took voluntary retirement, was moved to UP where he was made an MLC.
Sharma flashed the victory sign on his arrival but didn’t say anything. On Monday he had sent a missive to UP party chief Swatantradev Singh saying Modi’s name and patronage was sufficient to win polls and that people of UP loved him as much as they did in 2013-14. He had also added that the party would contest the 2022 UP polls with Adityanath as chief minister, an important statement given the fact that several of Yogi’s ministers had been making confusing, conflicting statements on who would be BJP’s face during the 2022 assembly polls.
When asked about the party’s face in 2022 polls, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said that the decision would be taken by the party’s central leadership, a point that was also reiterated by state’s labour minister Swami Prasad Maurya.
“It’s an exercise to stitch up loose ends ahead of elections,” said Irshad Ilmi, a veteran journalist and political observer.
