Yogi Adityanath Makes A Move To Keep Challengers Like Deputy Maurya In Check

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's meeting with Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) [AD(K)] leader Pallavi Patel earlier this week is significant, as it comes amid the ongoing rifts in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

One rift is between Adityanath and his deputy, Keshav Prasad Maurya, and another between Adityanath and Apna Dal (Soneylal) [AD(S)] chief Anupriya Patel. [AD(S)] is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally.

Two facts make the meeting interesting: Pallavi defeated Maurya in the 2022 UP assembly election in Sirathu on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket, and Soneylal and Kamerawadi are rival factions of the Apna Dal.

The meeting with Pallavi suggests that the UP CM is responding to his challengers. The speculation is fuelled by the fact that neither Adityanath nor Pallavi posted pictures of their meeting, maintaining secrecy around it.

For long, Maurya has been meeting leaders known to hold grudges against Adityanath and Other Backward Class (OBC) leaders like NISHAD party chief Sanjay Nishad and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar.

Now, Adityanath is meeting with a leader who defeated Maurya. It could be a symbolic reminder to Maurya that he does not have as much electoral capital as Adityanath.

While Adityanath has been elected as Gorakhpur Member of Parliament (MP) five consecutive times and is currently a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Gorakhpur Urban, Maurya has been elected as an MLA and MP one time only.

Moreover, the BJP lost most of its seats in Prayagraj division, Maurya's native place, in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, while the party won all seats in the Gorakhpur division, Adityanath's fortress.

However, it's not just about Maurya. Adityanath meeting Pallavi may have political repercussions even for Anupriya.

Pallavi's AD(K) has been eyeing the political space occupied by Anupriya's AD(S). Since AD(S) seems to have weakened in this Lok Sabha election, the BJP might be considering other allies to win Kurmi votes.

AD(S) could win only one of the two seats it contested in UP. Even Anupriya's margin of victory came down by almost 2 lakh votes. Her party also wasn't able to help the BJP win other Kurmi-influenced seats.

UP elected a total of 11 Kurmi leaders, seven of them from SP and three from the BJP. Even the margin of victory of the winning Kurmi BJP candidates was drastically reduced in this election.

In other Kurmi-dominated seats with none of the main candidates hailing from the community, like Barabanki, Kaushambi, Machhlishahr, Prayagraj, and Robertsganj, the INDI Alliance (of SP and Congress) candidates won.

But instead of being on the backfoot over the party's dismal performance, Anupriya started questioning Adityanath. She alleged that there was a bias against candidates from the OBC and Scheduled Caste and Tribe communities in state government job recruitment.

In such a scenario, Adityanath may have decided to explore alternatives.

Apna Dal split into two factions in 2016, with the two sisters Anupriya (elder) and Pallavi (younger) going into two different parties. AD(K) allied with SP for the 2022 UP assembly election, but could not win a single seat.

A few weeks before the Lok Sabha election, Pallavi broke with SP and joined hands with Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). However, it could not taste any success this time too.

So, Pallavi might have met Adityanath to maintain AD(K)'s relevance in UP politics. But Adityanath might not be inclined to take a risk with a party that does not have proven electoral success.

However, the UP CM might use Pallavi to caution Anupriya against a rebellion by showing that he has other options at hand.