Yogi Adityanath meets PM Modi, Amit Shah, others on team portfolios

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath Yogi on Tuesday met the BJP top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah and top Cabinet ministers, including finance minister Arun Jaitley and home minister Rajnath Singh. The UP CM also met President Pranab Mukherjee. It was Adityanath Yogi’s first visit to the nation’s capital after being sworn in as UP CM on Sunday. He also spoke in the Lok Sabha, where he represents Gorakhpur constituency.

Speculation is rife that the CM discussed the allocation of portfolios of team members with Mr Shah, where state organisational secretary Sunil Bansal was also present.  After an hour-long meeting with Mr Shah in the afternoon, the UP CM again rushed back from the airport in the evening to Mr Shah’s house for an “unscheduled” meeting. The CM was on his way to the airport when he returned to Mr Shah’s residence, where he spent nearly an hour. He later reached his Rakabganj Road residence, that he had been occupying as a Lok Sabha member. The discussions between Adityanath Yogi and the party’s top brass came amid speculation that deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, also the party’s UP chief and its OBC face, is likely to be given a key position. He was a contender for the CM’s post, but had missed out to the Gorakhpur MP.

In the Lok Sabha, Adityanath Yogi was cheered with cries of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki jai” as soon as he stepped into the Lower House. The saffron-clad leader struck an inclusive note and said his government would work for all.

“In Uttar Pradesh, the new model of development will be based on ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas’ (development for all),” said Adityanath, 44, who is better known for his aggressive Hindutva image.

Striking a cryptic note, that left everyone conjecturing, he said: “A lot of things will close down in UP now.” He went on to say: “My government will be for everyone, not specifically for any caste or community... We will work for the development of all sections and castes and create a new structure of progress.”

“UP will be the state which our honourable Prime Minister has dreamt of, a corruption-free state, a state free of anarchy. It would be an incident free-state,” he said.

The CM said: “I am younger by one year to Rahulji and one year older to Akhilesh Yadav. And I came between the two (Rahul and Akhilesh). This could be a major reason for their failure.”