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Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Monday asserted that it is the party "which contests the elections and wins it", and elections cannot be won "based on the strength of the government".
Maurya's remarks assume significance as they came barely a couple of weeks after his statement that the party organisation will always be bigger than the government caused a flutter.
Addressing the working committee meeting of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Backward Classes Morcha in Lucknow, Maurya said, "Was there a BJP government in 2014? Did we win the (Lok Sabha) elections or not? In the 2017 (UP assembly elections), were we having the government? Did we win or not?"
"When we had won, there was no government, and when the government was there, we felt that we can do it on the strength of the government.
"Based on the strength of the government, an election cannot be won. The party contests it and it is the party which wins it ('sarkaar ke bal pe chunaav nahi jeeta jaataa, party hee lardti hai, aur party hee jeetati hai').
"It is always the party which contests the elections, and it is the party which eventually wins it," Maurya said.
Urging party workers to gear up for the 2027 UP Assembly elections, he said, "Forget the mistakes ('chook') which were committed in 2024 (Lok Sabha polls), and work to ensure a historic win in the 2027 UP assembly elections."
There have been signs of dissonant voices emerging from within the BJP in Uttar Pradesh where it suffered shock reverses in the Lok Sabha polls at the hands of the SP-Congress alliance.
Maurya's differences with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are widely acknowledged even within the party, and his comment at a state party meeting recently that "organisation is always bigger than government" was seen to be directed at the CM.
He had made the remarks in the presence of Adityanath and BJP chief JP Nadda, while the chief minister had blamed "over-confidence" for the electoral setback in the state and suggested that the party could not effectively counter the opposition INDIA bloc's campaign.
A purported video of Monday's event was shared on social media with the claim that as soon as Adityanath was about to enter the venue, both the deputy chief ministers -- Maurya and Brajesh Pathak -- came down from the dais, and Pathak was seen leaving the programme venue.
However, a senior BJP leader, who was present in the programme for a significant duration, dismissed the claim and described the video as "fake".
He said the three leaders arrived and left as and when their speeches were scheduled as the state Assembly was also in session and it was not a practice in such programmes that the chief guests should sit through the entire event.
In a working committee meeting, programmes are held session-wise. Speakers speak during their sessions and then leave. The chief guest of every session is different, he said.
He said UP BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and UP minister Swatantra Dev Singh also left after addressing the audience.
"Since the UP legislative assembly was in session, deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak was scheduled to speak at 3.00 pm, deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was scheduled to speak at 3.30 pm, and Baba (apparently referring to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) was to speak at 4.00 pm," he said.
Elaborating further, he told PTI, "You see, in programmes of this type (working committee meeting), guests of every session are different. The guest of the inaugural session was the UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary. He inaugurated the programme and then left."
"Then it was Swatantra Dev Singh (UP minister). He also came, spoke and then went away. After this, it was the turn of Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak. As he was speaking, his colleague Keshav Prasad Maurya came to the programme venue, almost 15 minutes before Pathak was to end his speech."
"When the sessions of both the deputy chief ministers ended, they left. The practice that everybody will sit in the programme throughout the day is not there. The matter of a public meeting ('jansabha') and working committee ('kaarya samiti') meeting is different".
Asked about the video, the senior BJP leader said, "It is a fake video. No such video exists."
He further stated, "The carcades of both the deputy chief ministers was on the road outside the venue when his (Yogi Adityanath's) entered the programme venue."