Yogi Adityanath Meets PM Modi Amid BJP’s Outreach to Allies Ahead of 2022 Elections

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, a day after his meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah.

Adityanath’s visit to the national capital to meet the BJP top brass, including its president JP Nadda, came close on the heels of the party holding a series of review meetings in Lucknow, which had fuelled speculation that there could a ministerial reshuffle in the state government ahead of the 2022 assembly polls.

The UP chief minister, after a meeting with Shah on Thursday, tweeted: “Met respected Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi as a courtesy and received his guidance. Heartfelt thanks to the respected home minister for his time.”

Apna Dal (S) leader Anupriya Patel, a BJP ally from Uttar Pradesh who was a minister in the first Modi-led government, also met Shah, in an indication that the saffron party is reaching out to its partners as it works to bolster its position in the state.

Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are scheduled to be held in 2022. In such a situation, speculations were rife that a cabinet reshuffle in the state would be possible and AK Sharma, who became MLC, could be given some major responsibilities in the cabinet. Although the BJP officials are denying this possibility, but rumours about the same have been doing the rounds in political circles.

As the polls near, the BJP has decided to do a strength and weakness analysis and also prepare individual report cards for leaders, sources told CNN-News18.

Performance will be the biggest benchmark for getting a BJP ticket, sources said, adding that the party’s top leadership is in favour of individual surveys of MLAs.

As was the case in West Bengal, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda will make monthly visits to the big poll-bound state to check the poll preparedness.

While rumours have been travelling through political circles about the chief ministerial face of the approaching elections, the BJP seem to have settled one issue: Adityanath remains the unchallenged leader of the BJP in the state and will be leading the party into the UP elections in 2022.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.