Rumblings in UP BJP? Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya reaches Delhi, to meet JP Nadda

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has reached Delhi, where he is likely to meet the party's national president JP Nadda. There has been buzz that all is not well within the party in Uttar Pradesh, following the BJP's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections. UP BJP chief Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh is also likely to meet Nadda in Delhi later today. 

The development comes just two days after Uttar Pradesh BJP Executive Committee meeting in Lucknow.

During the meeting, Maurya said the organisation was bigger than the government. It was seen as a direct attack on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "Your pain is my pain too," the deputy chief minister said and added that the organisation was greater than the government and all ministers, MLAs, and public representatives should respect workers and take care of their dignity.

A section of party leaders believes that party workers are not satisfied as they don't get any support from the administration. They hold the chief minister responsible for this as he has given full freedom to officers. 

"The organisation was bigger than the government, is bigger, and will always be bigger. The SP and the Congress in the form of 'saapnath' and 'naagnath' have pushed us behind for some time by lying and cheating. But in 2027, we will again form the BJP government in the state with a target of crossing 300 (seats)," Maurya said.

During the executive meeting, UP BJP chief Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh said there won't be any compromise with workers' dignity, suggesting some tensions between the party workers and the government. 

UP minister Sanjay Nishad has also questioned Yogi Adityanath's 'bulldozer' policy, saying if this continues, who will vote for the BJP? Former BJP MP Subrat Pathak recently said that officers close to former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav played a role in the BJP's defeat, suggesting that officers were running the show in the Yogi government.    

The BJP suffered a massive setback in Uttar Pradesh, where its tally dropped to 33 from 62 in 2019. The INDIA bloc, comprising SP and Congress, bagged 43 of 80 seats.

While Maurya expressed party workers' anger, Yogi Adityanath said that 'overconfidence' hurt the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. "The percentage of votes that BJP had in its favour in 2014 and subsequent elections, BJP has been successful in getting the same number of votes in 2024 as well, but shifting of votes and overconfidence have hurt our hopes," he said. 

AajTak reported that there was no mention - during the executive meeting - of issues against the bureaucracy that local leaders of the state had been continuously voicing. During the elections, it was noted that many workers sat at home disappointed, unable to get people's work done at police stations and tehsils, but the issue found no mention in the executive committee meeting.

(With inputs from Kumar Abhishek)