YOGI, SHAH TO LAY ROAD MAP FOR MORE UP CONQUESTS

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be the star attraction at the BJP’s first state working committee meeting starting Monday, the first since its stunning UP win in 2017 polls.

Along with party chief Amit Shah, who will be present for the concluding session on Tuesday, Adityanath is expected to set about laying the road map for further ‘UP conquests’, the first being the civic polls scheduled by June-end but the larger one being ensuring a good show in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks re-election for another five-year term to carry forward his development agenda.

Adityanath will deliver the inaugural address at the state working committee meeting on Monday evening where other party veterans like Murli Manohar Joshi, union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and key organisational men like UP BJP in-charge Om Mathur and party’s UP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal are among the 450 state working committee members expected to be present.

UP BJP general secretary Pankaj Singh said the working committee will set the agenda for forthcoming BJP conquests.

This will be the last state working committee meeting with deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya as the state BJP chief. Under the party’s one man, one post principle Maurya has already offered to quit the party post. A decision on a new UP BJP chief is expected soon after the state working committee meeting is over on Tuesday.

But the highlight will be clearly on Yogi whose inaugural address would set the stage for party deliberations and also reflect the party plan for ‘Mission 2019’. There is a lot of curiosity ahead of the meeting more so because this will be the first time when Gorakhpur MP would take centre stage at a BJP meet.

“While Yogiji will inaugurate the meet, party chief Amit Shahji will be present on the concluding day on Tuesday,” said state BJP spokesman Manoj Mishra.

Since 2002, it will be the first state working committee meeting that is being held with the party in power; the last such working committee being in 2002. State BJP leader Naveen Srivastava, who has put up hoardings welcoming the guests at the BJP meet, said that there is great excitement among party leaders and cadre. “This is the first time in 15 years that we are holding a state working committee with our party in power in the state,” he said.