Until this summer, Uttar Pradesh was the jewel in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s crown –the state that ensured the party had an overwhelming majority in Parliament. But the 2024 Lok Sabha election has upended this. The BJP’s tally from UP has nearly halved, from 62 to 33.
This appears to have set off a conflict between chief minister Adityanath and his deputy, Keshav Maurya, which many believe is a proxy war between Adityanath and Amit Shah, two leaders seen as potential successors to Narendra Modi.
Political intrigue aside, on the ground in Uttar Pradesh, how does the ordinary BJP karyakarta view the turbulence within the party? Is it just a battle of personalities, or a deeper, more existential crisis of a party losing its social base? Who does the worker blame for the Lok Sabha debacle? How are BJP’s rivals and allies capitalising on its weakness? Can the BJP put its house in order and fight back in the upcoming bye-elections?
Help Scroll’s Ayush Tiwari seek answers to these questions – and more. Support his travel through India’s most politically influential state, which has gone from being BJP’s crown jewel to its prime headache.
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