BJP veteran at CM meet sparks off speculations

Lucknow: As the wait for new UP BJP chief gets longer, the presence of MLC Laxman Prasad Acharya at the party headquarters here on Wednesday set off fresh speculations as to who would head the ruling party in the politically most crucial state.

The occasion was the press conference of CM Yogi to highlight the eight years of Modi Government under ‘Report to Nation’ event. The CM was flanked by his dy CM’s Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. Also present was incumbent state party chief Swatantra Dev Singh.

But the odd man, whose presence on the dais caught everyone’s attention was senior party leader Laxman Acharya. Acharya presently is not only the vice president of UP BJP but also party’s deputy leader in the House. He was elected MLC in January, 2021 along with former bureaucrat-turned politician and PM Modi’s close aide AK Sharma, now a cabinet minister in the Yogi Government.

There are several contenders for the plume job. From within the state unit, the contenders are reportedly vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathak and general secretaries Ashwini Tyagi and Amarpal Maurya. From outside the state unit, the probables are Basti MP Harish Dwivedi, Deoria MP Ramapati Ram Tripathi, Kannauj MP Subrat Pathak and Union ministers BL Verma and Bhanu Pratap Verma.

But some leaders strongly feel and prefer a Dalit for the post to build on the fact that a big chunk of Dalit voters had switched loyalties from the BSP to the BJP in the recent polls. And it is here that Laxman Acharya comes into the picture as a very strong contender. Other dark horses include Vidyasagar Sonkar, Satish Kumar Gautam, Ram Shankar Katheria and GS Dharmesh.