Is all not well between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya? The ‘Sarkar versus Sangathan’ controversy has deepened in the state after the deputy CM’s almost hour-long meeting with BJP chief JP Nadda in Delhi on Tuesday evening.
Though party sources said BJP’s strategy in the upcoming by-elections and the party’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls were the agenda for the meeting, there is buzz in political circles as this was Maurya’s second meeting with Nadda in the last 48 hours.
Earlier, the deputy CM met Nadda on July 14 when the latter presided over the state executive meeting in Lucknow where Yogi Adityanath, Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and around 3,500 delegates — including the party’s sitting MLAs and MPs and all Lok Sabha candidates who lost the poll — were present.
It was on this day that the ‘Sarkar versus Sangathan’ controversy first arose.
Addressing the meeting, Maurya said no government was bigger than the organisation. “I am first a party worker, then a deputy CM.”
Soon after the meeting, he put up a post on X, repeating the same line — ‘Sangathan Se Badi Koi Sarkaar Nahi Hoti…har ek karyakarta hamara gaurav hai.. (Organisation is bigger than the government…No one is above the organisation. Every worker is our pride’.
Maurya’s post set the cat among the pigeons as some political observers noted that the statement was meant to douse dissent among party workers. However, others said it was the fallout of a ‘discord’ between Adityanath and Maurya, signalling trouble in UP BJP.
SK Diwedi, former head of department of political science, University of Lucknow, said: “Of late, there were instances when voices of dissent were heard within the saffron camp. Recently, former minister Moti Singh and MLA from Badlapur, Jaunpur, Ramesh Mishra gave rebellious statements against the government. Mishra had said that BJP was not likely to come back to power in 2027 and that the party was in a ‘very bad shape’ in UP. He had also sought intervention from the central leadership to set things right in the state. Singh, meanwhile, had said that corruption had increased manifold under the Adityanath government.”
However, party insiders said Maurya’s statement was a dig at Yogi Adityanath and added that it would give more ammo to the Opposition to corner the BJP government.
“Though his remark was genuine and factually correct, it conveys a different meaning in the present context. His statement is being seen as an attack on the one running the government,” said Sashikant Dubey, head, department of political science at Lucknow’s Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University.
Dubey said there were hints of discord among the two BJP leaders after the Lok Sabha polls too when Maurya did not attend government meetings and even skipped cabinet meetings twice.
“Another issue in discussion was his overstay in Delhi post the 2024 polls where he was meeting BJP leaders and key ministers of the Union government. This again sparked a controversy,” he added.
Party insiders who were part of Sunday’s meeting termed it tense. Despite attempts by Nadda and the chief minister to allay concerns by emphasising on collective responsibility, the underlying tension seemed significant. “The party meeting aimed at portraying a united face but the message that has gone out was about the rift between the two leaders,” a party insider said.
Amidst the buzz, former Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi mocked the ruling party, claiming that Uttar Pradesh now has three chief ministers.
“UP BJP’s review meeting was hilarious! Infighting coming out to surface and public catfight in the meeting. UP now has three CMs – two of them desperate to remove ‘Deputy’ from their designations,” Singhvi said. “Evidently clear the top bosses have decided to dethrone the local chieftain!” he added.
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