LUCKNOW: Is chief minister Yogi Adityanath in for one of the most profound endorsements of being a top BJP leader with a national appeal? The question assumed much pertinence even as Adityanath dashed to Delhi to meet the BJP brass, including PM Narendra Modi, amid whirling speculations of his likely induction into the BJP's parliamentary board, the highest decision-making body of the party.
The development came just over a fortnight after Yogi took reins of UP for the second consecutive time with BJP returning to power in the recently concluded UP polls. On his Delhi trip on Monday, the UP CM was accompanied by his two deputies -- Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. Cabinet minister and PM Modi trusted ex-IAS officer AK Sharma and UP BJP state general secretary (organisation), Sunil Bansal, too, accompanied him. The leaders also made a courtesy call on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Yogi's likely elevation comes against the backdrop of his ever-advancing popularity even as the BJP gears up for the high stake Lok Sabha elections in 2024 when PM Modi would seek the third consecutive term in office.
At present, the 11-member panel has a strength of seven -- PM Modi, home minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, defence minister Rajnath Singh, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chouhan was inducted in the board in August 2014, reportedly on the recommendation of BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani.
The BJP is yet to fill four vacancies created because of the demise of Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley besides elevation of Venkiah Naidu and Thawar Chand Gehlot as Vice-president and Karnataka governor, respectively.
Along with Yogi, the names of Union ministers like Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Smriti Irani and Bhupendra Yadav have started doing the rounds for the top-notch panel. Among them, Pradhan, who was BJP's UP election in charge and Irani, who defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his political backyard of Amethi in 2019, are being keenly watched out for.
The visit of Yogi and his senior ministerial colleagues to Delhi also attained prominence in the light of BJP's search for a new state unit chief who will steer the party in UP during 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The incumbent UP BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh has been inducted in the Yogi cabinet, in what has necessitated the need for propping up a new organisational face.
