Yogi Adityanath meets BJP brass amid talk of rejig

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday, and later held discussions with Union home minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda.

Adityanath also met Nadda and President Ram Nath Kovind amid speculation of churning in the party’s state unit ahead of assembly elections early next year. “Met honourable PM Narendra Modi today and received his guidance,” Adityanath tweeted after the meet.

The meetings came on a day BJP vice-president Mukul Roy switched to the TMC and speculation arose that a reshuffle of the Union cabinet was on the cards.

The Adityanath-led government has been battling dissension and criticism of its Covid management with both opposition leaders and senior BJP lawmakers attacking the administration. The party also performed poorly in recently held village body elections, finishing behind the Samajwadi Party and failing to win in Modi’s home constituency of Varanasi and state capital Lucknow. A top party functionary said the state’s Covid response and development projects were discussed. “There are several development projects such as the Jevar airport and the Purvanchal Expressway that are nearing completion, and the CM wanted to discuss this with the PM. The party’s performance in the recent panchayat polls and the upcoming state polls were also part of the discussions,” he said.

The developments came a day after Shah met Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel and Praveen Kumar Nishad of the Nishad Party, both allies of BJP in UP , triggering speculation that the party leadership wanted to iron out differences. “There is talk of accommodating the allies in the state’s council of ministers. But it all depends on Delhi (the central leadership),” said a second functionary.

A third leader said in his meetings with Adityanath on Thursday, Shah suggested that the UP leadership needed to address concerns of factionalism. In Delhi, Modi’s meeting with Nadda and Shah, which came soon after his meeting with Adityanath, was meant to take stock of the government’s progress and next year’s state elections, said a fourth person aware of the matter. HT learns that all union ministers have been asked by the PMO to prepare presentations on the work accomplished by their ministries in two years.