Farmers Movement Archive

Fresh Sangh backing for Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath in BL Santhosh’s tweet on BJP sweep

LUCKNOW: BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh on Sunday credited chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the state BJP organisation for the big win in zila panchayat chairman elections, in what marks a fresh endorsement of Yogi and state leadership by a top BJP leader who’s close to the Sangh. “Congratulations to team UP BJP under the leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath and Swatantra Dev Singh for the historic victory in zila panchayat (ZP) chairman elections, putting to rest the debate on challenge to BJP in the country’s biggest state,” tweeted Santhosh, who acts as a bridge between BJP’s national leadership and RSS. Congratulations to Team @BJP4UP under the leadership of CM @myogiadityanath & State President @swatantrabjp for the… https://t.co/TVczYTnmGR— B L Santhosh (@blsanthosh) 1625363451000BJP won 66 of 75 ZP chairman seats on Saturday, a development which potentially armed BJP cadre to escalate their presence in rural precincts, which will determine electoral fortunes of political parties in the highstakes assembly elections next year. BJP sources said, the party would soon be sprucing itself up for the kshetra panchayat elections to scale up its rural footprint and offset resurgence of an aggressive opposition. Santhosh’s affirmation of BJP’s victory in rural local bodies polls is another instance of Sangh backing Yogi, while relaying signals to party detractors — who stoked speculation about a possible change of guard — to fall in line. ‘PM & CM popularity neutralised opposition false narrative on pandemic mgmt’The zila panchayat elections assumed political significance even as an unrelenting opposition accused BJP of mishandling the pandemic. The ongoing farmers’ stir against new farm laws had lent traction to the opposition’s charge. BJP, however, managed to secure its position in all districts of the agriculturally rich west UP region, except Baghpat which was won by RLD. UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh maintained that committed workers of the party and popularity of PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi neutralised the false narrative pedalled by the Opposition on pandemic management and farm unrest. “The party would emerge even stronger,” he said, while speaking to TOI. RSS sources said, the Sangh has already asked its functionaries to form committees at panchayat level to help the state government in the eventuality of a third Covid wave, which is expected to affect children. Importantly, the issue of rural local bodies polls and combating the pandemic figured prominently at the recent high-level meetings presided over by Santhosh and party vice-president Radha Mohan Singh during their recent visit to Lucknow. The duo had subsequently conveyed the findings of the stock-taking exercise to the top BJP brass, including PM Modi, home minister Amit Shah and party national president JP Nadda.

The Times of India

2021-07-05

Lucknow