New Delhi: BJP president J.P. Nadda is expected to be replaced soon after the Delhi Assembly elections that are due in February 2025. The buzz in the party is that the BJP could consider an OBC community candidate to succeed Nadda, signalling a strategic shift at regaining ground among key voter demographics.
At the forefront of the race among OBC leaders is Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, who is also seen as a rival to the state’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. A section of party leaders feels that Maurya’s elevation to the national stage may strengthen the BJP’s hold among the weaker communities in UP where elections are due in 2026.
Underscoring the importance of Uttar Pradesh to the party’s fortunes, a senior party leader said: “If UP goes, we go.” By saying this, he highlighted the BJP’s urgency to address and stem the erosion of its OBC and Dalit vote banks, which has been identified as one of the key factors behind the party’s electoral setback during the Lok Sabha polls. The senior party leader said: “The anticipated change at the top could be a critical step in the party's efforts to consolidate and rejuvenate its base in the run-up to future elections.”
Following the setbacks in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s central leadership subtly entertained the idea of replacing Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister. In response, factions within the party launched a counter-offensive, accusing the leadership in New Delhi of “interference” in ticket distribution and election management.
There was also pressure to replace Adityanath with some critics claiming that he had “favoured” the Rajput community. Despite these tensions and the reported willingness of some influential leaders to make a change, the party ultimately deemed it too risky to remove Yogi Adityanath from his position.
“Any move to remove Yogi ji will damage the BJP in UP,” a senior party leader asserted. With the attempts to replace Adityanath brushed under the carpet for the time being, a section of leaders indicated that “placing an OBC face at the national level will be a more effective strategy to appeal to the OBC and Dalit communities”.
Meanwhile, as UP braces for byelections in 10 key Assembly seats, the BJP and RSS are doubling down on efforts to secure the support of OBC and Dalit voters. In a recent high-level meeting, both outfits decided to intensify their outreach to the two communities. The Yogi Adityanath government is now expected to put a spotlight on various welfare schemes tailored for backward communities, aiming to counter the Opposition strategy to fracture the OBC and Dalit vote banks.
It may be recalled that the BJP state unit is also gearing up for a massive membership drive, with legislators being instructed to prioritise this initiative ahead of the byelections. This drive is seen as a “critical component” of the party’s strategy to regain lost ground, particularly in the Purvanchal region, where the BJP suffered a significant blow in the Lok Sabha elections. Out of 27 seats in this region, the BJP managed to secure only nine.
If the forthcoming Assembly elections across states are crucial for Nadda’s “record” as BJP president, for Yogi Adityanath, the upcoming bypolls represent more than just a test of the BJP’s electoral strength.
“The bypolls are a chance to restore his standing within the party and the state,” a senior BJP UP leader said. For Yogi Adityanath, with his image under fire from key political rivals, a strong showing in these byelections could be pivotal in reaffirming his leadership.
