‘No Cabinet reshuffle for now, no rift between Modi and Adityanath’

Refuting talks of a possible change in the chief ministership and the state BJP leadership, party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Radha Mohan Singh on Sunday denied reports of possible expansion of the state Cabinet and said though there are vacant posts in the cabinet, it is Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s prerogative to fill them as and when he likes to.

Singh also refuted reports of an alleged rift between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath, describing the CM as the most “competent person” to fulfil the PM’s dream.

Singh’s remarks came after he met Governor Anandiben Patel at Raj Bhavan in Lucknow earlier in the day, fuelling speculation of a possible reshuffle in the Cabinet. He, however, termed his visit to Raj Bhavan as a “courtesy call”, saying that he had not met the Governor after becoming the party’s in-charge of UP.

“Jahan tak sarkar aur sangathan ka sawaal hai, desh mein sabse majboot sangathan Uttar pradesh mein BJP ki hai. Aur sabse jyada lokpriya sarkar Uttar Pradesh ki sarkar hai (As far as state organization and the government is concerned, the UP unit of the BJP is the strongest in the country and the Uttar Pradesh government is the most popular,” Singh told mediapersons, calling reports of likely changes in the party or the government leadership in UP as a “figment of imagination”.

“This is a figment of imagination. No question arises of it,” he said.

He also met state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh. Later in the day, Singh met Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit and referred to the visit as “courtesy call”.

On the question of possible Cabinet reshuffle, Singh said: “Some posts are vacant and the chief minister would take a decision at an appropriate time, but in today’s date, both the organisation and the government are working very well.”
“No expansion is going to take place now. Everyone is focused on the election of zila panchayat chairpersons. When it takes place, it will be known,” he added.

Singh also rejected reports on the alleged rift between Modi and Adityanath. “If you look at newspapers, you will see that Modi-ji was the first to greet Yogi-Ji (on his birthday). In fact, we are of the view that Yogi-ji is the most competent person to fulfil the dreams of Modi-ji,” he said.

Three days ago, senior BJP leadership, including party’s national general secretary BL Santosh and Radha Mohan Singh, held meetings with party leaders as well Chief Minister Adityanath. They also held one-to-one meetings with ministers, fuelling speculation of a possible leadership change in the state ahead of the Assembly elections in the state due next year.

Singh, meanwhile, denied that the party’s performance in the recently concluded panchayat elections in the state, and said BJP succeeded in winning “over 2,000 of the 3,000 contested posts”. He also claimed that most BJP candidates will win in the elections for the zila panchayat chairman posts.

It may be mentioned that while the direct elections for the posts of zila panchayat, kshetra panchayat members as well as gram pradhans have taken place, indirect elections for the posts of 75 zila panchayat chairmen are still due. The chairmen will be elected by zila panchayat members.

With PTI Inputs