Amit Shah Meets PM, UP BJP Chief Offers To Quit Over Poll Drubbing: Sources

The BJP is prepping for an organisational rejig in Uttar Pradesh after its big drubbing in the politically-significant state in this Lok Sabha election, sources have told NDTV. State BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary, it is learnt, has taken responsibility for the party's poor show and offered to step down during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi today. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has now reached the Prime Minister's residence to discuss the next move. 

Over the past few days, key BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh are in the national capital and are holding meetings with the party brass. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya met BJP national president JP Nadda, fuelling the buzz over a big revamp.

According to sources, the Prime Minister discussed key organisation issues with the Uttar Pradesh BJP president. The BJP, it is learnt, is keen on having an OBC leader as its state chief as it preps to bounce back from the poll setback and prepare for the 2027 state polls. The incumbent, Mr Chaudhary, is a Jat leader from Moradabad and was given the role in 2022 to quell the resentment against BJP within the community.

The BJP's possible choice of an OBC leader to replace Mr Chaudhary may be explained by the fact that OBCs account for a sizeable chunk of the state's population and are a key factor in elections. 

The BJP's suffered a big debacle in Uttar Pradesh in this general election, with its score dropping from 62 in 2019 to 33 this time as main Opposition Samajwadi Party made big gains. 

The BJP has won the last two state polls in Uttar Pradesh and will leave no stone unturned to score a hat-trick. So, wide and big changes in the party organisation are likely.

The Backdrop

Speculation over an organisational overhaul come against the Opposition's claims of infighting within the Yogi Adityanath government in the state. This buzz was sparked by a remark by Deputy Chief Minister Maurya during a party meeting on Sunday. "The organisation is bigger than the government. No one is bigger than the organisation," Mr Maurya said. The remark was widely seen as a veiled swipe at Chief Minister Adityanath.

Latching on to the remark, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said people of the state are suffering due to infighting within the state government. "BJP leaders are fighting among themselves. The people know about the corruption and are fed up with the game of thrones," he said.

BJP, however, dismissed the infighting buzz. Responding to the Samajwadi Party chief, Mr Maurya tweeted this afternoon that the BJP's governments and organisation in the country and the state are strong. "The return of SP's reign of goons in UP is impossible. BJP will repeat 2017 in the 2027 state polls," he posted on X. Significantly, Mr Maurya was state BJP chief in 2017 and the BJP had scored a thumping win in that election.

In a potent remark at the BJP state executive meeting, Mr Adityanath had said "overconfidence" cost the party in the Lok Sabha election. "The percentage of votes that was in favour of BJP in 2014 and subsequent elections, BJP has been successful in getting the same number of votes in 2024 as well, but the shifting of votes and overconfidence have hurt our expectations," Mr Adityanath said, calling upon party workers to step up preparations for the upcoming bypolls.