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'No rift between PM Modi, CM Yogi', BJP leaders assert, as reports claim dissent in UP

BJP leaders described Yogi as the most "competent person to fulfil PM's dream"

[File] Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi | PTI [File] Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi | PTI

Amid speculations of a possible rift between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP leaders publicly shot down all rumours. BJP national vice-president Radha Mohan Singh junked all media reports suggesting the same, and described the chief minister as the most "competent person to fulfil PM's dream". 

The rumours first came to the fore after media reports claimed there was an intra-party clamour to sideline Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi had faced dissent from his own legislators in the state over the coronavirus crisis, with Sitapur BJP MLA Rakesh Rathore claiming that if he makes too many statements, it may lead to a sedition case being filed against him. The first reports came after Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were silent on social media during CM Yogi's birthday. There were no public wishes, as was the norm. 

However, NDTV reported sources in the Prime Minister's Office as saying that PM Modi had, in fact, spoken to Yogi and wished him on his birthday, adding that the prime minister has not tweeted to anyone in the second wave of the pandemic. 

Singh, the party's in-charge in UP, also junked talks over the possibilities of a change in the party or the government leadership in the state. Asked about a TV news channel report claiming an imminent Cabinet expansion in UP, Singh told PTI, "No expansion is going to take place now. Everyone is focussed on the election of zila panchayat chairpersons. When it takes place, it will be known," he added. The reports appearing in newspapers and news channels do not make any sense, he quipped.

The BJP vice president also discounted reports on likely changes in the party or the government leadership in UP, terming them as a figment of imagination. "This is a figment of imagination. No question arises of it. Both the government and the organisation are working fine," he asserted.

-Inputs from agencies

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