Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s Assembly term is set to end in May next year, and the state is expected to head to polls around late March and April.
Even as there are said to be differences between Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the party leadership, BJP national president J P Nadda has announced that Yogi will remain the party’s chief ministerial face for the next election. The RSS has also reportedly begun groundwork for the campaign.
Within the BJP, the UP election is now being discussed alongside the 2027 presidential election, as President Droupadi Murmu’s term ends in July 2027. Rajnath Singh—who has served as UP chief minister and as a minister in the state, and is currently the Union Defence Minister—is being talked about as a potential presidential candidate.
Party discussions cite caste arithmetic in north India, noting that Rajnath Singh belongs to the Rajput community, which has a significant vote base in UP. Some in the party believe projecting a leader from UP for the presidency could help consolidate support for the BJP in the Assembly election.
However, another section within the party argues that the final choice could change after the UP polls, suggesting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah could opt for a different, even lesser-known, candidate.
