Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (Photo – PTI)
Everything looks good when the outcome is in your favor, but when the outcome is against you, the flaws and weaknesses start to come to light. Something similar is happening in UP BJP. In the Lok Sabha elections, the party could win only 33 seats in the state. There is a churning in the party as to how the performance turned out so badly. Some party leaders are raising questions on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s leadership. Leaders who used to speak in quiet tones are coming out in the open. The lack of coordination between the Chief Minister and the two Deputy CMs also started a discussion in political circles. It is also said that both the Deputy Chief Ministers are missing from Yogi Adityanath’s meetings.
These things show that Yogi Adityanath has weakened after the Lok Sabha election results. But amid growing voices of opposition in the party, Yogi Adityanath also has a chance to show his strength. He can show his strength in the next assembly by-election. By-elections are to be held on 10 assembly seats in the state. Currently 5 of these seats are in NDA’s court and 5 are in SP’s court. If the BJP does well in these 10 seats, Yogi Adityanath will obviously gain strength and the opponents who are now openly voicing their views will also be silenced to a large extent.
The constituencies to be held include Phulpur, Kher, Ghaziabad, Mazwan, Mirapur, Milkipur, Karahal, Katehari and Kundarki and Sisamau. Except for Seesamal, MLAs from the remaining 9 seats have won the Lok Sabha elections and become MPs, while the Seesamal seat has fallen vacant due to cancellation of the membership of SP leader Irfan Solanki.
CM Yogi with BJP President JP Nadda (Photo-PTI)
Even CM Yogi Adityanath knows that the bypoll is a good opportunity to pacify the opposition. This is why it is in action. He has also called a meeting of ministers on Wednesday. CM Yogi will take feedback from ministers regarding election preparations. Earlier, CM Yogi also held a meeting on June 30, in which he assigned the duties of ministers in the by-elections.
Challenge to enter SP’s fort
Out of the 10 seats on which by-elections have been held, 5 seats are considered SP strongholds. These seats are Karhal, Kundarki, Kathri, Sisamau and Milkipur. SP president Akhilesh Yadav is MLA from Karhal. He has now become an MP. He reached the Lok Sabha after winning from Kannauj. While Milkipur seat comes under Ayodhya. Awadhesh Prasad has been an MLA here for 9 times. This seat has become vacant since he became MP.
Kathri is the seat of Ambedkar Nagar. SP’s Lalji Verma was MLA from here. He has become MP from Ambedkarnagar Lok Sabha seat. Kundarki seat comes under Moradabad. It is Muslim dominated. It is considered as the stronghold of Sapa. Ziaur Rehman Vark was an MLA from here, but this time he has won from Sambhal Lok Sabha seat and became MP.
Handling ‘our own’ is also a challenge
However, Yogi Adityanath has to fix everything in the UP BJP before the by-elections. He has to take care of his people. Attention has to be paid to leaders whose statements can cause harm. Matters have to be settled between the organization and the government. Because Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said in the UP BJP Working Committee that the organization is above the government. No person or government can be bigger than an institution. Referring to the workers, he said that the pain that is yours is also ours. Keshav Maurya got a lot of applause when he said this, but his speech also raised questions.
However, in that meeting, CM Yogi also gave a message to the workers for the by-election. CM Yogi said that UP’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections is a defeat of overconfidence. He said that we could not deal with the way the opposition uses social media. He also gave this task to the leaders and workers that everyone has to show their strength in the by-elections.
