His audience included BJP president J P Nadda.
“Hamare yahan sangathan sadaiv sarkar se bada raha hai. Sabhi mantriyon, vidhayakon aur jan pratinidhiyon ko karyakartaon ka samman karna chahiye. Main pehle ek karyakarta hoon aur uske baad up-mukhyamantri (In BJP’s scheme, the organisation always takes precedence over govt and it is, therefore, incumbent upon all ministers, MLAs and public representatives to respect workers and take care of their dignity. I am a party worker first and deputy CM second,” Keshav Maurya said at the same venue.
Few of the lakhs of BJP workers in the politically key state, trying to come to grips with the unexpected reverses in LS polls, would have found the statements to be problematic.
However, if none of them is amused, it is because of the not-so-subtle message driven home and the backdrop of the feud that the party’s underwhelming performance has sparked.
In the current tense times, Yogi’s message, although factually correct, has been seen as aimed at the state unit and sullen colleagues like Maurya who have sought to pin the unexpected losses on the CM. He made it clear that he had no intention to be reduced from the poster boy of modern Hinduva to the whipping boy.
Ditto for Maurya. His concern for the respect of workers has been seen as echoing the complaint of the anti-Yogi faction about the organisation being reduced to an adjunct of the govt.
The utterances have brought to fore the simmering differences between the CM and an influential set who have chafed at his popularity and dominance.
Maurya eyeing BJP chief post with ‘organisation man’ pitch?
Right since the 2017 landslide, scripted by Union home minister Amit Shah, then the BJP chief, which brought the party to office, Yogi loomed large over the organisation by the sheer force of his appeal. Maurya, state party chief at the time of assembly elections who saw himself as the natural claimant for the spoils, always found it difficult to reconcile himself to being the second fiddle but had to acquiesce to his existence as a junior partner.
Although the second term saw restraints being placed on Yogi’s powers to placate wounded aspirations, in the public imagination Yogi still dwarfed everyone else. The appearance of govt-organisation tandem also somehow held until the disappointment on June 4 exposed the cracks and set the stage for an open season of blame game where an assortment of considerations – from course correction on caste in view of SP’s gains among non-Yadav OBCs and Dalits to the need for better chemistry with cadre and levelling the playing field among state functionaries – have been bandied about.
Nadda had a first-hand experience of the rumblings in the state which was crucial for BJP’s back-to-back victories in 2014 and 2019. He has since thought it fit to hold deliberations with Maurya and state chief Bhupendra Chaudhary, a nondescript figure who has lately acquired a profile by framing himself as the voice of the “party worker”.
Significantly, Chaudhary’s meeting with PM Modi on Wednesday sparked speculation that he has been asked to step down, something which he rushed to deny.
Maurya taking up cudgels for the cadre has been seen by some as a joust for the important portfolio of public works department which he held in the first term. Maurya was shifted to rural development in the second term with PWD going to Jitendra Prasada who has since been elected to LS and appointed a minister. The department has since been lying vacant.
But others say Maurya, an OBC, has his sights higher and that by positioning himself as an “organisation man” he could, in fact, be trying to be the party chief, the argument being that the party needs to bring the non-Yadav OBCs back.
Senior members acknowledged that comments from several functionaries in the state have dented its image of a disciplined party but added that it was expected as they needed to vent their feelings after suffering a defeat few saw coming.
“In a way, it is good the pent-up steam has been blown,” said a senior BJP source, adding that the top priority now would be to do well in the assembly bypolls to 10 seats. The Election Commission is likely to announce the date soon.
Sources said the meetings could be the beginning of the much-expected exercise to rearrange the organisational chess board in the state in a bid to boost the morale of workers and put the house in order. This could be the first sitting of central representatives to take feedback of the UP brass with regards to the party’s poor performance in the LS polls. Sources said more meetings of UP BJP members, including Yogi meeting the central brass, are expected soon.