Major shake-up in BJP’s UP leadership likely as party top brass holds meetings

NEW DELHI: A big churn in the organisational setup of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on the cards in Uttar Pradesh after the party suffered a debacle in the most crucial state of the Hindi heartland in the recently held Lok Sabha election.

In fast-paced political developments over the past two days, state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary, it is learned, has taken responsibility for the party’s poor show and offered to step down. He is said to have made the offer during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Capital on Wednesday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah met PM Modi at his Lok Kalyan Marg residence to discuss the next move.

Key BJP leaders of Uttar Pradesh have been camping in the national capital and are busy in a series of meetings with the party’s top brass. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya met BJP national president JP Nadda, stoking the buzz of a big revamp.

On Tuesday, Chaudhary and Maurya met BJP president JP Nadda. The meetings took place days after Maurya remarked at a party event that “the organisation is always bigger than the government and no one can be bigger than the organisation.” The remark was made in the presence of Yogi Adityanath and the party’s national chief JP Nadda.

Sources said the Prime Minister discussed key organisational issues with the UP BJP chief. It is learned that the BJP is keen on having an OBC leader as its state unit head as OBCs account for a sizeable portion of the state’s population and play a vital role in elections.

The party will soon face bypolls in 10 Assembly seats in the state and will also have to prepare for the 2027 state polls. The party’s state unit chief Bhupendra Chaudhary, a Jat leader from Moradabad, was given the responsibility in 2022 with a view to quell the resentment against BJP within the community.

The BJP suffered an ignominious defeat in Uttar Pradesh in this general election, with its tally taking a hit, dropping from 62 in 2019 to 33 Lok Sabha seats this time. The main opposition Samajwadi Party, a key constituent of the INDIA bloc, made substantial gains.

At the same time, opposition and political circles are agog over an organisational overhaul in U.P. as claims of infighting within the Yogi Adityanath government have been surfacing from time to time, raising questions on the viability of the continuance of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister in the state. The buzz was also fueled by a remark of Deputy Chief Minister Maurya during a party meeting on Sunday. “The organisation is bigger than the government. No one is bigger than the organisation,” Mr. Maurya said. It was seen as a veiled swipe at Yogi Adityanath.

Quick to comment was Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who said people in U.P. are suffering due to infighting within the state government. “BJP leaders are fighting among themselves. The people know about the corruption and are fed up with the game of thrones,” he claimed.

Responding to the SP chief, Mr. Maurya posted on X on Wednesday that the BJP’s governments and organisation in the country and the state are strong. “The return of SP’s reign of goons in UP is impossible. BJP will repeat 2017 in the 2027 state polls,” he posted on X. Mr. Maurya was state BJP chief in 2017 and the BJP had scored a big victory in that election.

At the BJP state executive meeting, CM Yogi Adityanath had said “overconfidence” cost the party in the Lok Sabha election. He called upon party workers to step up preparations for the upcoming bypolls.

Maurya’s differences with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are widely acknowledged even within the party. With the party’s top brass speaking to Maurya and state unit chief Chaudhary, considered a sober voice, they seem to be taking steps to put their house in order against a resurgent opposition in the state, which has been critical to the BJP’s rise as the dominant national force since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

BJP sources said their top priority right now is to do well in the Assembly bypolls to 10 seats in the state. The Election Commission is likely to announce the date for the polls soon.