Will Keshav Prasad Maurya remain Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM after Assembly election debacle?

Maurya, who is known to be BJP's OBC face, lost to Samajwadi Party's Pallavi Patel.

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New Delhi: Even though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recorded a massive win in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and paved the way for chief minister Yogi Adityanath to take the top office for the second consecutive term, all eyes are now on his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya who lost the assembly poll contest in Sirathu.

Maurya, who has said that he is a worker of the BJP and will do whatever the party tells him to do, lost to Samajwadi Party's Pallavi Patel by 7,337 votes. 

While Maurya polled 98,941 votes, Patel, the elder sister of Union minister Anupriya Patel, got 1,06,278 votes.

"With all humility, I accept the mandate of the people of Sirathu assembly constituency. I am thankful to each and every party worker and also express my gratitude towards the voters, who have voted for me. It is a happy moment for us that the BJP has formed the government once again due to the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh and in three other states," he had said after the defeat.

It is noteworthy that a person who is not a member of either House of the state legislature can also become a minister provided that he/she becomes a lawmaker within a period of six months after taking oath as a minister. Maurya, however, can still be the deputy as he is currently the Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). 

Maurya had not fought in the 2017 Assembly elections but was made brought in as MLC to enable him to continue as the deputy CM in the Yogi Adityanath-led government. The tenure of the MLCs, notably, is six years.

Maurya is the party's OBC face and is most likely to remain in the UP cabinet 2.0.

Meanwhile, Yogi Adityanath is scheduled to visit Delhi on Sunday (March 13) to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss the new cabinet. The swearing-in ceremony date is also likely to be discussed during the meeting.

According to ANI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda and National General Secretary BL Santosh will also attend the meeting.

UP BJP President Swatantra Dev Singh, Minister Sunil Bansal, state in-charge Radha Mohan Singh will also accompany Adityanath during his 2-day visit to the national capital.

As per reports, the BJP is considering several new faces in the Yogi Cabinet and it is being speculated that the party leadership has prepared a basic list of probable Deputy Chief Ministers and Ministers on the basis of qualification, caste and regional equations. 

(With agency inputs)