BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Sunday appeared to take a dig at his own party asking if the huge win by the BJP in the just-concluded local body polls was the ‘consequence of re-affirmation of Yogi Adityanath’ as the chief minister. This, he added, was despite attempts to remove Adityanath from his post. Reacting to the BJP’s claims that candidates backed by it had won 67 of 75 seats in the local body polls in Uttar Pradesh, Swamy said that this was possible due to Adityanath being the state’s chief minister.
Swamy tweeted, “Is this landslide victory consequence of re-affirmation of Yogi Adityanath as CM despite clandestine attempts to topple him?”
Is this landslide victory consequence of re-affirmation of Yogi Adityanath as CM despite clandestine attempts to topple him?
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) July 3, 2021
Swamy was referring to the last month’s speculations over Adityanath’s future as the UP chief minister with many predicting his ouster from the post ahead of the assembly polls.
Elsewhere, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the success of BJP candidates in the just-concluded local body polls was due to Adityanath’s leadership in the state. He tweeted, “I congratulate Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and state president Swatantra Dev Singh for BJP’s emphatic win the Zilla Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh. This victory is possible because of Yogi ji’s leadership, good governance in the state and our workers’ efforts.”
उ. प्र. ज़िला पंचायत चुनावों में भाजपा की प्रभावी जीत के लिए मैं मुख्यमंत्री @myogiadityanath जी एवं अध्यक्ष श्री स्वतंत्र देव सिंह समेत पूरी प्रदेश इकाई को हार्दिक बधाई देता हूँ।
यह जीत योगीजी के नेतृत्व, प्रदेश सरकार के सुशासन और कार्यकर्ताओं के प्रयास एवं समर्पण का परिणाम है।— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) July 3, 2021
Assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh in February next year.
Last month, Adityanath’s 49th birthday had become a topic of intense speculations after eagle-eyed netizens pointed out how Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not extend his birthday greetings on Twitter this year. This assumed significance in light of Adityanath’s performance in handling the pandemic reportedly coming under scrutiny even by the BJP leadership.
This had prompted many to speculate that Adityanath may be replaced ahead of the assembly polls.