Much speculation arose when CM Yogi Adityanath met PM Modi for the first time since the review meet around a week ago.
Rumors had been flying around that all was not well in the Modi Yogi camp as the Prime Minister had not wished Yogi on his birthday, which he customarily does each year and set people wondering what was going on, but some BJP leaders said that the Prime Minister has not been wishing anyone for a few weeks, focusing on the COVID crisis.
It was thought this change of wind from the PM was due to Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath’s mishandling of COVID with the sudden discovery of COVID-infected dead bodies found in the Ganga and Yamuna.
The meeting between the two at PM Modi’s residence yesterday lasted for more than an hour, and Yogi tweeted in Hindi along with a photo with the Prime Minister. “Today, I had the privilege of meeting with respected PM Modi and get his guidance. I wholeheartedly thank him for taking out time from his busy schedule for the meeting and the counsel.”
After his meet with the Prime Minister, Yogi Adityanath went to BJP chief JP Nadda’s residence where they held discussions for nearly 1.5 hours and JP Nadda tweeted in Hindi.
“Met Uttar Pradesh’s successful Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,”
While stories were circulating that Modi is looking to replace Yogi, sources say that the BJP is not looking at replacing Yogi Adityanath, but other changes are likely. It is said that BJP MPs and MLAs in Uttar Pradesh are upset with the inaccessibility of Yogi Adityanath and also not happy with his poor handling of the pandemic and this has led to the disagreements coming out in the open.
Since arriving at Delhi, Yogi Adityanath has been holding constant meetings with Delhi leadership. On Thursday, he held a 90-minute long meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah.
These meetings come nearly a week after senior BJP leader BL Santosh led a central mission to Uttar Pradesh to take feedback and carry out a study in meetings with ministers, MLAs, MPs, and the Chief Minister as well.
A senior leader of the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Dattatreya Hosabale, had suggested the feedback session after the realization of dissatisfaction in the cadre when he visited UP.
Recently, Jitin Prasada, who was in Congress for two decades, a close aide to Rahul Gandhi, suddenly ditched Congress to join BJP. He is likely to play a pivotal role in the UP reshuffle. Jitin Prasada was the Congress’s top Brahmin face in UP where the Brahmins make up about 13 percent of UP’s voters.
With less than a year left for UP to elect its new government, the BJP in hindsight has built strategies to smooth out inconsistencies within the party.
Former bureaucrat AK Sharma, one of PM Modi’s aides, may be given an important role in the UP government, sources have suggested and this could be a cause of Yogi’s grievance because it spells disaster for him in that AK Sharma would keep a “check” on Yogi, a kind of hidden spy, sources say.
Over time, there could be a bigger tussle between Modi and Yogi, with the latter emerging as a powerful opponent to PM Modi, anticipated to replace him. With strong RSS backing with his own influential ability to form his own party, Yogi could suddenly become a new prime ministerial face.
Only, it will not be all that easy because India voted for PM Narendra Modi for change and development, not Hindutva and Adityanath Yogi, the real face of Hindutva in richly secular rooted India with multiple diversities, cultures, and religions would face resistance and rejection. India thrives on a moderate secular base with strong leanings towards productivity, growth, and development, not religious fanatism, and Indians today are wiser, they have seen enough of that and just want to get on with their lives and live peacefully.