What could be better than lunch to call a political truce? It happened on Tuesday when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached the house of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to have lunch. It was the first time that Yogi went to a minister’s house in the last four-and-a-half years.
The official explanation given was that he had gone to congratulate Maurya’s son who got married recently, but in political circles the visit was seen as an attempt to quell speculations that the CM and deputy CM were not on the same page.
Maurya’s son Yogesh got married on May 22. No leader or cabinet minister was invited due to Covid protocols.
Yogi was accompanied by Deputy CM Dr Dinesh Sharma, RSS Sar-Karyavaha Dattatreya Hosabale, and RSS leader Krishna Gopal.
The meeting is being seen as an attempt to send across the message to rival leaders and adversaries that all is well between Yogi and Maurya. The meeting assumes significance because a few days back, Maurya had said that the next chief minister of UP would be decided by the central leadership if BJP came to power. This statement was echoed by Swami Prasad Maurya, who hinted that the Assam-like formula could be replicated in UP where election is contested under one’s leadership while another leader becomes the CM.
Sources in the BJP claimed that senior RSS leaders brokered peace between Yogi and Maurya. “The presence of Hosabale and Krishna Gopal in the meeting is a reflection of Sangh’s efforts to ensure a patch-up,” they said.
It is no secret that backwards, who form almost 32 per cent of the votes, are not happy with the Yogi style of governance. They believe that Maurya, who is a backward by caste and was a front-runner for the CM’s post in 2017, was sidelined in the last four-and-a-half years. On many occasions, the CM even held review meetings of PWD, the department helmed by Maurya, without informing the minister.
“Look at the timing of this lunch meeting. The media is speculating about the blow-hot-blow-cold equation between Yogi and Maurya, and a smiling family picture will help in dispelling the doubts,” a BJP leader said.
Later, the RSS leaders held a meeting with the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues at BJP headquarters and it was also attended by both the deputy CMs.