BJP shifts focus to UP Assembly polls, stage set for rejig in party, cabinet

After all the ten Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the two Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates were elected unopposed to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council on Thursday, the ruling party is likely to get busy with preparations for the twin challenges of panchayat and Assembly polls with likely rejig in government and party organisation.

The BJP candidates declared elected include deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, BJP state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh, retired Gujarat cadre IAS officer AK Sharma, Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Kunwar Manvendra Singh, Govind Narayan Shukla, Salil Bishnoi, Ashwani Tyagi, Dharamveer Prajapati and Surendra Chaudhary.

The SP candidates elected to the upper House include senior SP leader Ahmad Hasan and party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary.

Decks for the unopposed election of the 12 candidates were cleared with the rejection of nomination papers of independent candidate Mahesh Chandra Sharma during scrutiny on Tuesday.

After Thursday’s election, the strength of the BJP has increased from 25 to 32 (three members re-elected) in the 100 member Legislative Council, while the strength of the SP has reduced from 55 to 51 after two party members, out of the six whose terms were ending, were re-elected. BSP’s strength has also gone down from eight members to six; however, the Congress party continues to have two members. The SP still enjoys a majority in the council.

The election has also set the stage for a reshuffle in the state cabinet as well as changes in the BJP party organisation before the crucial 2022 Assembly elections in the state.

There is speculation that AK Sharma might be inducted into the state cabinet while some of the ministers might be sent to the organisation keeping the approaching Assembly elections in mind.

Immediately after the election, AK Sharma thanked the BJP, its central and state leadership and party workers. In a tweet, he said, “Life is for Nation, BJP my dignity, lotus is identity. Thank Hon Modi ji from heart.”

The election of the 10 BJP candidates coincided with BJP president JP Nadda’s visit to Lucknow on Thursday. A BJP leader said, along with discussing the strategy for the panchayat polls and gearing up the party for the assembly elections, Nadda will also discuss co-ordination between the organisation and the government.

“The BJP government will complete four years in power in March. The ministers whose performance is not satisfactory will be shifted. In keeping with the caste equation and performance, some leaders might be rewarded with induction into the cabinet,” the BJP leader said.