Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday, 21 August, said the "organisation is bigger than the government," amid speculation of the BJP appointing a new party chief in the state.
Swatantra Dev Singh, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, had earlier resigned from the post of the state BJP chief.
In a one-line tweet in Hindi, Maurya said, "Sangathan sarkaar se barhaa hai!" (the organisation is bigger than the government!).
A BJP office-bearer told PTI, "He (Keshav Prasad Maurya) has always said from every forum and even in public programmes that party workers should not consider themselves less than a deputy CM, and the officials should understand this. Today, he said the same thing in Ghaziabad, and also tweeted it."
An influential OBC leader, Maurya had served as the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief during the 2017 UP Assembly elections.
A minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led government, however, said that the tweet was uncalled for and only meant to create confusion in party ranks. “Everyone knows that the organisation is supreme and there was no need to underline the fact at this time,” he said.
There has been speculation about Maurya playing an important role in the selection of the new state party chief.
The appointment of the new UP BJP chief is also important from the point of view of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Maurya was recently appointed the leader of BJP's legislature party in the UP Legislative Council, in place of Swatantra Dev Singh.
(With inputs from PTI.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)