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Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s halt in Lucknow on Monday for a meeting with the Yogi Adityanath cabinet over a dinner has everyone guessing as what message their top leader will convey to them with the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh just a few weeks into its second term.
On his way back to Delhi from Nepal, the PM will land in Lucknow and visit the Chief Minister’s residence where all the members of the council of ministers have been invited for dinner.
The visit is being seen as important from various aspects, especially keeping the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in mind, sources said.
A senior state BJP leader said, “In the first tenure, the BJP government kept blaming the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) regimes. The party sought second term to put everything in order. The government will have to showcase its works, particularly on the employment front. It is for the first time in 37 years that a party got full majority in UP for second consecutive term. PM Modi can guide in this situation since he has the experience of running government in Gujarat for successive terms.”
Another concern among a section of leaders is about the party’s declining number of seats in the state in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. “Anti-incumbency could be stronger in 2024 than in 2019. So it is essential for the governments at the Centre and in the state to deliver and execute the schemes on the ground. That requires pro-active participation of all the ministries of the state government. The PM’s tips may be helpful on this,” said the party leader.
Modi himself is an MP from Varanasi.
The BJP had said that the 2022 Assembly polls will lay the foundation of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Also, the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections are likely to be another point of discussion during the PM’s meeting with the CM and his cabinet. With 11 Rajya Sabha seats from the state headed for elections on June 10, the BJP has to pick candidates keeping in mind the 2024 polls.
A minister said, “All the senior ministers have toured different districts at least twice in the second term. They interacted with the public, party cadre and offshoots of the RSS. The PM may ask some ministers about the feedback they received on the ground about the government.”
