A BJP legislator, considered close to Yogi Adityanath, stirred a controversy after calling the Uttar Pradesh chief minister a "future prime minister".
"Abhi Modiji pradhan mantri hain... aur agey bhi rahenge... par Yogiji bhavishya ke pradhan mantri hain (Modi is now the PM and he will remain so after the next Lok Sabha polls, but Yogi is a future prime minister)," Raghavendra Singh said on Thursday.
Singh, who is the MLA from the Dumariyaganj Assembly constituency, was also the president of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), an organisation floated by Adityanath around 16 years back to espouse the Hindutva cause.
A senior state BJP leader here, however, sought to distance the saffron party from the remarks saying that the MLA might have aired his personal views.
"The party has nothing to do with the remarks... Modiji is our undisputed leader and will remain so in future," the leader remarked.
The MLA's remarks come a day after the appearance of 'Modi vs Yogi' posters in different parts of the state capital on Wednesday. The police have lodged an FIR and launched a hunt to find those behind them.
The posters, saying 'Yogi lao, desh bachao' (bring Yogi to save the country) and comparing the prime minister with the chief minister, carried the name of a little-known outfit called Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena (UPNS) and its president Amit Jani.
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