Uttar Pradesh: BJP brass to meet today to finalise the shape & size of Team Yogi 2.0

LUCKNOW: The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to go into a huddle in New Delhi on Wednesday to finalise the shape and size of Team Yogi 2.0. CM-designate Yogi Adityanath, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, UP in charge Radha Mohan Singh, state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh and organisation secretary Sunil Bansal will attend the meeting.
According to sources, around two dozen new faces are likely to be inducted into the new state cabinet and the focus would be on caste, region and women MLAs.
After formal discussions and shortlisting of probable ministers, the UP core committee will meet Union home minister Amit Shah, national BJP chief JP Nadda and other senior leaders for final decision.

The final decision on the number of deputy chief ministers and ministers would also be decided on Wednesday, BJP sources said. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held any day after March 20, sources said.
The national leadership will also take a decision on whether Apna Dal and Nishad Party will be given the opportunity to field candidates for the upcoming MLC local bodies’ elections. Sources said that Apna Dal and Nishad Party have expressed willingness to field candidates from their quota as alliance partners.

If the central leadership agrees to the alliance partners’ demand, the BJP would field candidates accordingly. As of now, the BJP has finalised 36 probables. The nomination for the elections, which started on March 15, will end on March 19 (first phase) and on March 22 (second phase).

BJP sources said the party was eyeing all the 36 seats and strategy was being chalked out to woo voters. There are a total 35 constituencies for which 36 candidates would try their luck. Mathura-Etah constituency will have two candidates. For MLC polls, the BJP has zeroed in on party workers and those leaders who have joined the BJP from other parties. Prominent among probable candidates are Narendra Bhati and CP Chand.