Amid speculations of rumblings of discontent within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh after the Lok Sabha election results, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is holding division-wise meetings with his MLAs across the State.
On July 25, Mr. Adityanath met elected representatives from Meerut and Prayagraj divisions. The meetings, officially described as ‘normal feedback’ exercise to discuss development projects and to collect inputs on different issues, are believed to be aimed at pacifying the MLAs and party leaders who, in recent weeks, have questioned the functioning of the State government and bureaucracy.
Uttar Pradesh consists of 18 administrative divisions. On Wednesday, Mr. Adityanath held meetings with elected representatives of Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. In the meeting of Meerut division, local Lok Sabha MP Arun Govil was present despite the ongoing Parliament session.
“We discussed about the development projects and gave suggestions to the Chief Minister for overall progress of our assembly constituencies and the Meerut division. We discussed the need for a central university, elevated road and All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Meerut,” Somendra Tomar, the MLA from Meerut South assembly seat, told The Hindu.
Asked if there were discussions about the Lok Sabha election, Mr. Tomar said, “When elections have concluded recently, it is natural that discussions and consultation over polls happened.”
It is learned that discussions were held over the probable reasons for defeat in Lok Sabha constituencies. Suggestions on what more could be done for the public were sought from the MLAs.
On July 22, during his visit to Azamgarh, the Chief Minister held a meeting with elected representatives of Azamgarh division along with senior officials. “The Chief Minister emphasised the need for timely and high-quality implementation of public interest and welfare schemes. He directed that development projects be monitored consistently,” read a statement from Mr. Adityanath’s office on the Azamgarh meeting.
In the past weeks, many elected representatives of the BJP have questioned the functioning of the bureaucracy in the State after the BJP-led NDA won only 33 Lok Sabha seats in the Lok Sabha election, 29 fewer than the seats it had won in 2019. Former Minister Rajendra Pratap Singh last week alleged “unimaginable corruption” at the lower level leading to exploitation of common people. “I have no hesitation in saying that in 42 years of my political life, I could not imagine or see such kind of corruption at the tehsil and police station level,” he said at a BJP meeting in Pratapgarh.
There are speculations of rift at the higher levels too with Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya reiterating on multiple occasions in the last two weeks that the party’s organisation is bigger than the government. “The organisation is bigger than the government, the pain of the workers is my pain. No one is bigger than the organisation, the workers are the pride,” he had said.
Published - July 26, 2024 07:07 am IST
