'Sau lao, sarkaar banao': Akhilesh Yadav's 'monsoon offer' amid Yogi Adityanath vs Keshav Prasad Maurya rift rumours

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav made waves on Thursday with a cryptic social media post amid reported infighting within the Uttar Pradesh unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Monsoon offer: Sau lau, sarkar bano,” Yadav posted on X (formerly Twitter).

This post is widely interpreted as an invitation to the critics of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath within the BJP to defect and form a new government.

This is not the first time Yadav has extended such an offer. In December 2022, he urged Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak to “bring 100 MLAs and become CM of the state.”

“There are two Deputy CMs in the state, both eyeing the Chief Minister's position. We offer them an opportunity: bring 100 MLAs to us, and we will support you in becoming the CM,” Yadav had stated at a rally in Rampur.

Speculation of discord within the UP BJP surfaced following a lackluster performance in the Lok Sabha elections, which left Prime Minister Narendra Modi without a parliamentary majority and reliant on coalition partners.

Keshav Prasad Maurya, an OBC leader and known adversary of Yogi Adityanath, fueled rumors with a speech on Sunday and a subsequent post on X on Wednesday, shortly after meeting with BJP president JP Nadda in Delhi.

“The organisation is bigger than the government, the pain of the workers is my pain. No one is bigger than the organisation, the workers are the pride,” his office posted, seemingly targeting Adityanath.

Despite these developments, the BJP has downplayed any rumors of internal conflict, presenting a united front in the politically crucial state.

However, insiders indicate that the factionalism extends beyond the state unit, involving senior central leaders dissatisfied with the party's performance in the state during the Lok Sabha elections.