It is a clash of titans which is unfolding before the all-important 2027 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. It is an unusual clash unfolding in the annals of BJP- unheard of during the last decade of Narendra Modi-Amit Shah supremacy, as the enthusiastic Opposition watches with glee from sidelines. It is so because they, Opposition, are for the time being, out of this clash which is between the two power centres of the saffron party, Modi-Shah’s centralised oversight leaving hardly any margin for fellow compatriots, and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Aditynanath’s independent style of governance, loath to any interference from top bosses in New Delhi.

Many manifestations of this clash of titans have come to the fore in the recent past. From BJP’s internal battle of supremacy to control the organisational mechanism in Uttar Pradesh, to reports of the Centre’s desperate but failed attempts, up till now, to reign in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath like the other BJP-ruled states headed by lightweights and political novices. And the huge controversy surrounding the alleged theft of donations in Ayodhya’s Ram Temple assuming a state versus Centre dimension. In all these manifestations the battle-lines seem getting drawn more clearly. 

To cap it all, Governor Mrs Anandiben Patel choosing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s home turf Gorakhpur, his political as well as spiritual ‘karambhoomi’, to impliedly target him on the pretext of poor facilities in local educational institutions for the students and other like issues, has generated curiosity both within the BJP-leaving them guessing as to what is transpiring ahead of the assembly........

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