The Mauryan Rebellion In UP

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Dear Reader,

There's a modern 'Mauryan Rebellion' brewing in the heartland of India. This time against Yogi, not Nanda.

• This rebellion is the theme of our latest Weekend Issue — 'The Mauryan Rebellion'.

• From statements to meetings, Uttar Pradesh's Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has been making moves widely being seen as a rebellion against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

• The tussle is not new though. It goes back to the time when Yogi became a surprise CM pick after BJP's 2017 win in UP. Among the front runners who lost out was Keshav Prasad Maurya, the then chief of UP BJP. He had to settle for the position of Deputy CM.

The present rumblings have come after BJP's disappointing performance in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. BJP was reduced to a mere 36 seats down from 66 in the 2019 elections.

• Soon after Maurya started asserting himself as a parallel power centre in the state by making statements like "sangathan (organisation) is stronger than the government" and conducting meetings with NDA allies as well as BJP workers and leaders who were unhappy with CM Yogi.

• Is there actually a rebellion? If yes, how is it panning out? Who stands where? What is central leadership's stance? What is Yogi doing to counter it? How is BJP responding to the infighting? Will RSS emerge as the mediator?

Apart from this, the weekend issue covers the 2024 Budget with various angles, commentaries, analysis, and explanations. Are you happy/frustrated about the budget? Then some of these pieces are a must-read for you.

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Anmol Jain