In the wake of allegations made by several Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders that the “disconnect between the BJP cadre and the party-led government” was a key factor behind the party's below par performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seems to have held a process to set the house in order. As part of this exercise, which wrapped up on Friday, Adityanath met over 200 current and former MLAs, MPs, Legislative Council members of the BJP from different regions of the state over the last few days. In these meetings with the party's public representatives, in groups as well as individually, at his residence in Lucknow, the CM took feedback on the reasons for the “difference in the BJP's performance” in their constituencies or belts in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as compared to the 2022 Assembly elections besides discussing the future roadmap. In the 2022 Assembly polls, out of 403 seats, the BJP led by CM Adityanath had won 255 seats as against the Akhilesh Yadav-headed Samajwadi Party (SP)’s 111 and the Congress’s two, thus returning to power for the second consecutive term. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, however, out of UP's 80 seats, the BJP could win only 33 – down from 62 seats in the 2019 polls – with its allies RLD and Apna Dal (Soneylal) getting, respectively, two and one, while the SP bagged 37 seats with its INDIA partner Congress winning six. On Thursday, apart from meeting the BJP's MLAs and MPs from two divisions, Meerut and Prayagraj, in separate groups, Adityanath also met several sitting and former party MLAs and MLCs individually, who include Millak MLA Rajbala, Dhanaura MLA Rajiv Tarara, Nehtaur MLA Om Kumar and Rampur MLA Akash Saxena. Adityanath then also held a one-on-one meeting with BJP ally and OBC leader Sanjay Nishad, the NISHAD Party chief and state minister, whose son Praveen Nishad lost from the Sant Kabir Nagar seat as the BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. Sanjay Nishad was among the leaders of the ruling camp who recently blamed the state government's “style of functioning” for the loss of their seats in the Lok Sabha elections. He even alleged that the “misuse of bulldozers” by officials was one of the reasons behind the NDA's poor performance. However, after meeting the CM, Sanjay Nishad appeared to have changed his tune, saying that only a few officers were not working but others were making efforts to take UP forward to make it an "Uttam Pradesh". Speaking to The Indian Express, Nishad described Adityanath as "our guardian". He said the issues of his community people in different districts of eastern UP were “resolved or assurances were given to resolve them” during his meeting with the CM. "Everything was positive. He (CM) is our guardian. We discussed how to strengthen my Fisheries Ministry so that our community can benefit more from it. We also discussed social issues. I told him how I had given letters to officials in Gonda and other places and they had not paid heed to it. He assured to do justice for people of the community," Nishad said. On Wednesday, Adityanath met the BJP MLAs and MPs from Bareilly and Moradabad divisions in separate batches. He then met individually Bulandshahr MLA Devendra Singh Lodhi, Etah legislator Vipin Kumar Verma, Meerut MLA Ravindra Bhadana and Bareilly Mayor Umesh Gautam, among others. He also met former MLAs from Baghpat and Jaunpur as well Ayodhya's Milkipur seat, which is going to bypoll in the coming days. “The Chief Minister is very attentive to the issues raised by us,” said a BJP MLA who was among those who met him. “His (Adityanath's) focus has been on seeking details about the reasons for the difference in the party's performance in our respective seats and regions between 2022 Assembly polls and 2024 Lok Sabha polls. like what changed. Everyone has their own set of reasons. Some are pointing to shortcomings in taking our message to the ground level, some have grievances over the way the government machinery was functioning, while others have local issues.” The BJP legislator added: “It is important for all of us to resolve issues before we move ahead for the 2027 Assembly polls.” Significantly, the BJP's OBC face and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has also been meeting party leaders and cadre, including legislators, and the party's OBC allies such as Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) at his Lucknow residence in recent days. On Wednesday, the state BJP's OBC Morcha leaders met Maurya to discuss their meeting scheduled for July 29. On Thursday, Maurya was absent from Adityanath's meeting with public representatives, as was the other Deputy CM, Brajesh Pathak, despite being in Lucknow. During the state BJP executive meeting on July 14 – a major party exercise held to discuss its Lok Sabha performance – Maurya had said that “sangathan (organisation) is bigger than sarkar (government)”, hinting at the internal complaints by several leaders against the “high-handed” functioning of the government or bureaucracy. Maurya later reiterated his stance.
