Yogi Adityanath to lead BJP in next year's Uttar Pradesh assembly polls

The Assembly election is scheduled to be held in UP in March of 2022

Notwithstanding criticism over his alleged 'mismanagement' in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and resentment within the party over his style of functioning, the BJP is likely to go into the next year's assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The Assembly election is scheduled to be held in UP in March next year.

According to the sources in the BJP here, the saffron party national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, who concluded his two-day visit to the state on Tuesday, has indicated to the senior party leaders and ministers, who had met him, during their discussions that there will be no change in the state leadership.

Sources said that some of the ministers and senior party leaders had conveyed to Santhosh that there could be a negative fallout of the Covid 'mismanagement' for the party in the next year's assembly polls and had also complained their resentment over his (Adityanath) style of functioning but were told that there was not much time left for the polls and that a change at this juncture could send a wrong message to the people.

"It will amount to admitting that the state government failed to properly tackle the pandemic," a senior UP BJP leader told DH here on Wednesday.

In fact Santhosh and other senior BJP leaders, after the conclusion of their visit, heaped praise on Adityanath for what they claimed effectively controlling the situation through better management.

"The way the CM of a state with more than 20 crore population (UP) controlled the situation in five weeks was not seen in the CM of a state with 1.5 crore population (Delhi).....the UP government has started preparation to tackle the third wave of Covid-19," Santhosh said in a tweet.

Sources, however, said that there could be some changes in the organisational level and some new faces might also be inducted in the ministry.