What could be better than lunch to call it a political truce? This exactly happened on Tuesday when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached the house of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to have lunch. This was the first time Yogi had gone 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 this visit is seen as an attempt to scotch speculation that Yogi and Maurya are not on the same page.
Maurya’s son Yogesh got married on May 22 amid Covid protocol. No leaders or Ministers from the Cabinet were invited to that marriage. Yogi was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Dr Dinesh Sharma, BJP’s national general secretary organisation BL Santosh, and RSS leader Krishna Gopal.
Politically speaking, through this meeting a message is being sent among the party leaders and the adversaries that all is well between Yogi and Maurya.
The meeting assumes importance because a few days back Maurya had given a statement that the next Chief Minister of UP, if the BJP comes to power, will be decided by central leadership. This statement was seconded by another Maurya, Swami Prasad Maurya, who hinted that Assam like formula can be replicated in UP where election is fought under one’s leadership and another leader becomes CM.
Sources in the BJP claimed that senior RSS leaders brokered peace between Yogi and Maurya. “The presence of Santosh and Krishna Gopal in that lunch-on meeting is a reflection of Sangh’s efforts to bring a patch up,” he said.
It is no secret that backwards, who form almost 32 per cent of the votes, are not happy with Yogi style of governance. They believe that Maurya, who is backward by caste, and was front runner for the post of Chief Minister in 2017, was sidelined in the last four and a half years. On many occasions the CM even held a review of the Public Works Department, the department held by Maurya, without informing the Minister.
“Look at the timing of this lunch meeting. The media is already speculating about the blow hot blow cold relation between Yogi and Maurya and a smiling family picture will help in dispelling the doubt,” the BJP leader said.
Later, the RSS leaders held a meeting with the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues in the BJP party headquarters which was attended by both Deputy Chief Ministers too.