Yogi Adityanath meets PM Modi, key party leaders after winning UP

LUCKNOW: Three days after the BJP registered an emphatic win in the UP polls, UP chief minister-designate Yogi Adityanath on Sunday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders in Delhi in what was seen as a politically cardinal exercise ahead of the formation of the government in the state.

According to highly placed sources the Yogi discussed with the PM and other leaders the induction of key members of the new ministry, appointment of one or two more deputy chief ministers and the fate of deputy CM Keshav Maurya, a prominent OBC face of the party, who faced a shock defeat in

Sirathu

.

Among the key leaders, Yogi met during his Delhi visit were BJP national president JP Nadda and national general secretary (organisation), BL Santhosh.

Soon after his meeting with Yogi, PM Modi tweeted: “Today I met

Yogi Ji

. Congratulated him for his historic victory in the Uttar Pradesh elections. In the last five years, he has worked tirelessly to fulfil the aspirations of the people. I have full faith that in the coming years, he will bring development to the state and take it to greater heights...,”.



While his return as UP CM was imminent, Yogi’s meeting with PM Modi, Nadda and Santhosh is learnt to be harboured around key politically strategic issues including induction of senior party ranks in the state cabinet and fulfilment of poll promises that propelled saffron dispensation back to power for the second consecutive time. Some of the key issues which Yogi is learnt to have taken up with the BJP top leadership was that of tackling the menace of stray cattle, giving free LPG cylinders on Holi and Diwali and free electricity to farmers.

Speculations have been also hovering around possibilities of increasing the number of deputy CMs to prop the political stature of key saffron functionaries. While the BJP was yet to open its cards, names of a few BJP leaders, including UP BJP chief

Swatantra Dev Singh

, former Uttarakhand governor and BJP vice-president Baby Rani Maurya and former law minister Brijesh

Pathak

have been doing the rounds for being given even higher roles.

A Jatav, Maurya won from Agra Rural and was being projected as a key Dalit face of the party. Likewise, Pathak has been attaining significant importance given his credentials of being a Brahmin, the community which has traditionally been siding with the BJP. As for Keshav Maurya, party sources said that he was the OBC face of the party and can't be ignored.

Sources said that the BJP sought to bolster the political reputation of its incumbent functionaries with an eye on Lok Sabha elections due in 2024. The party is also planning to give responsibilities to new faces to churn fresh leadership that could further propel the party’s electoral prospects.

BJP sources did not rule out the possibility of the party’s Noida MLA Pankaj Singh being given a berth in the state cabinet. Pankaj, who happens to be the son of Defence minister Rajnath Singh, won from Noida by a record margin of 1.79 lakh votes.

The BJP may also buoy up Daya Shankar Singh who won from Ballia. Singh, the husband of former minister

Swati Singh

, happens to be the state vice-president of BJP and a member of the party induction committee that played the pivotal role in weaning away key ranks from the opposition camps. Former IPS officer Asim Arun who successfully contested from Kannauj reserved seat has also been receiving perceptible political glare within the saffron pantheon.