The historic victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh has cleared the way for Yogi Adityanath to be sworn in as the Chief Minister once again. Yogi Adityanath won easily from his stronghold Gorakhpur, but in Sirathu, the party suffered a major setback. The candidate from here, UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya lost his election. Now the big question is, what is the effect of this defeat on Keshav Prasad Maurya’s political journey? Will BJP make him Deputy CM despite defeat or will there be any change in his role?
Apna Dal (Communist) leader Pallavi Patel, contesting on the Samajwadi Party symbol, defeated Maurya by 7,337 votes. Pallavi, who took the lead in the second round, got 46.49 percent votes and Maurya got 43.28% votes. After the announcement of the results, Maurya tweeted, “I humbly accept the decision of the people of Sirathu. I am grateful to BJP workers for their hard work and voters who have reposed faith in me.
The BJP, which won 255 seats alone, suffered a major setback in the form of Maurya’s defeat. Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad), who contested with BJP, won 12 and 6 seats respectively.
Even a spectacular campaign from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari could not save Maurya from defeat. Now the question arises whether Maurya will be able to get his chair back? To become a minister, it is necessary to be a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council. However, one can be administered the oath of office even if he is not a member, but has to be elected to either house within six months.
Maurya can be sent to the cabinet through the Legislative Council. But BJP has not made any announcement regarding Maurya’s future yet. The second deputy chief minister in the Yogi government is Dinesh Sharma, who is a member of the Legislative Council and has not contested the assembly elections.