‘Changes in ministry CM’s prerogative’
LUCKNOW: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president Radha Mohan Singh, who is the party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge, held a series of meetings, including ones with governor Anandiben Patel, assembly speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit and several ministers here on Sunday, creating a political buzz.
The development comes days after three-day one-on-one feedback sessions that BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh held with ministers in UP.
Radha Mohan Singh described his meetings as “courtesy calls”, insisting that they were personal rather than professional interactions.
A section of partymen claimed that there was more to the meetings than met the eye. They indicated that at the very least, a reshuffle in the Yogi Adityanath ministry looked imminent.
On being asked about the likely changes in the ministry in an election year, Singh maintained that it was the chief minister’s prerogative and added that the BJP had bettered its performance over the last time (2015) in the panchayat elections held in April. He said it will do even better in the assembly elections due early next year.
Like BL Santhosh earlier, who had attempted to silence the sense of perceived disquiet against Adityanath, by making two tweets backing measures taken by the chief minister to fight Covid-19, Radha Mohan, too, said Adityanath would decide the shape of ministry expansion if it happens.
About the meetings, Singh said, “I have known the governor since she was the Gujarat chief minister, and I was the union agriculture minister. Similarly, I have known the speaker for a long time.”
Dikshit, too, said the same: “Radha Mohan ji has held several key posts in the party and the government, and we have both known each other for long. Our discussions centered around ancient history and culture.”
However, some BJP leaders attempted to give a context to the developments, suggesting that the meetings were scheduled at the last moment and weren’t pre-planned.
Radha Mohan Singh’s meetings in Lucknow coincided with BJP general secretaries in Delhi expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for discussions on key states like UP where assembly elections are due early next year.
BJP national president JP Nadda, too, was expected to visit the state sometime later this month, party leaders said.
For the last 15 days, the political grapevine has been abuzz with several possibilities ahead of the 2022 UP polls.
State BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh backed chief minister Yogi Adityanath, saying there wasn’t any chief minister as hardworking and committed as him.
“Have you seen any chief minister working night and day with complete honesty? You well remember how bad things were during SP (Samajwadi Party) and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) rule. There wasn’t any UP
CM as hard working as him,” Singh said.
He also said vacancies (possibly meaning the state organisation) would be filled.
There are vacancies both in the government and in the party. After the death of three ministers due to Covid-19 infection since March 2020, there are seven vacancies in the government. Swatantra Dev Singh is yet to set up his own team since taking over as the party’s state unit chief in July 2019.