Yogi to draw strategy for civic poll strategy

Kanpur: Amid meeting of UP BJP's state working committee in Kanpur to discuss strategy for the crucial urban local bodies election due in November, chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi has convened a meeting of his cabinet colleagues in Lucknow on October 15. This was confirmed by state urban development minister Suresh Khanna. During the meeting, Yogi is likely to delegate responsibilities to his ministers for the local bodies elections. In the second half of the day, Yogi will meet all the party MLAs to discuss the election strategy and selection of candidates as per whatever decision is taken in the two-day Kanpur meet that began on Thursday.

Despite being elected Gorakhpur MP five times, Yogi has earlier been identified more as the head priest of Gorakhnath Temple and had limited his presence to eastern UP.

He was known to have not been on good terms with many state BJP leaders earlier and had entered into several disputes during previous assembly elections. In 2007 elections, he had even announced he would field his own candidate but the matter was later resolved. In 2012 assembly election, he was one of the first prominent BJP leaders to rebel against state BJP's move to welcome the controversial and sacked from BSP Babu Singh Kushwaha. The BJP tally in the previous election came down to 47, the lowest since 1991.

In the last assembly election, Yogi travelled to almost everywhere across the state as star campaigner and went on to become the first mahant in the state to become the chief minister of the state.

Now, as leader of 325 MLAs, Yogi has the responsibility to ensure that the party is able to perform well, a senior BJP leader and a minister in UP cabinet told TOI.