As parties begin early preparations for the Assembly elections in 2022, ministers in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh held review meetings with party leaders over Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s alleged ill-management of the COVID-19 health emergency.
A one-on-one closed-door meeting was also held with CM Adityanath at his residence.
The congregations with the ministers, which began on Monday, 31 May, are a part of a two-day feedback exercise.
WHO ATTENDED THE MEETINGS?
BJP leaders from Delhi, national general secretary of organisation BL Santosh and former Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh, met over nine state ministers in Lucknow.
Among the leaders who met Santosh were Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh, Medical Education and Finance Minister Suresh Khanna and Law Minister Brijesh Pathak, The Indian Express reported.
As per the report, Singh also held meetings with state party president Swatantra Dev Singh and state General Secretary in charge of the organisation Sunil Bansal.
WHAT WAS DISCUSSED?
A BJP press release stated that the leaders reviewed the COVID relief work done by the state government in the last few months as well as last year.
According to sources, the leaders were asked for their feedback on the workings of different government departments, the issues that remained problematic amid the handling of COVID, BJP’s reach to the masses, The Indian Express reported.
A senior leader also added, “There were some issues of coordination between the organisation and government, which were being constantly raised by leaders, which were discussed during the meeting,” the report quoted.
WHY THE MEETINGS ARE SIGNIFICANT
The meetings gain significance as they come ahead of crucial polls next year and amid the backdrop of widespread criticism, including from the party over Yogi Adityanath’s response to the most recent COVID case surge.
Besides unremitting attacks from the opposition, which blame the incompetency of the government for COVID deaths in the state, distressing visuals of bodies floating in the Ganga or buried in quicksand graves on UP’s riverbanks have been the subject of several international headlines.
Moreover, the meetings assume significance in the wake of the BJP’s losses in the recent panchayat polls. Although the polls were not contested on party symbols, BJP had backed a large number of candidates. There have also been reports of an impending reshuffling of the state cabinet.
Top BJP and RSS leaders had met on Sunday to deliberate on the impact of the pandemic on the image of the party.
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