Lucknow: Smarting from its dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the UP BJP might have tried to put up a united face at its state executive committee meeting here on Sunday but deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s veiled dig at Yogi Adityanath has set tongues wagging within the saffron party.
Speaking at the meeting, Maurya said that the organisation (BJP) was always above the government and that everyone should know it. ‘’Sangathan sarkar se bada tha, bada hai aur bada rahega” (the party organization was above the government, is above the government and will always remain above the government), he remarked amid cheers from the BJP workers who were present there.
The deputy CM also sought to convey the message that the ordinary BJP workers were not happy with the government. "Your (workers) and my pain is similar", he said, hinting that the workers were not being accorded due respect in the Adityanath government and this was also one of the reasons behind the poor performance of the party in the state in the LS polls.
Maurya’s remarks were perceived to be aimed at Adityanath, who, in his address, sought to drive home the message that the government was above the organization. Adityanath had said that the party leaders, who were members of the civic bodies or heading the panchayats, would also be affected if the government was affected. The chief minister had attributed the party's poor performance in the state in the LS polls to overconfidence.
Maurya made his displeasure over Adityanath’s style of functioning known to the central leadership of the saffron party earlier as well. He had also maintained distance from the meetings convened by the chief minister.
Barely a couple of days back, BJP legislator Ramesh Chandra Mishra had said that BJP was not likely to come back to power in 2027 and that the party was in a ‘’very bad shape’’ in Uttar Pradesh. Mishra had also sought intervention from the central party leadership to set things right in the state.
Around the same time, senior party leader and former minister Moti Singh had said that corruption had increased manifold under this government.
The remarks by Maurya and some other party leaders were being perceived in the political circles here as an attempt to open a front against Adityanath and convey to the high command that it would be difficult for the party to return to power in 2027 assembly polls if Adityanath continued to be at the helm of affairs.