State leaders now realize that Modi wave which swept the state when party and allies got 73 out of total 80 seats in Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from UP, was on the wane.

Reacting to the loss of party in Delhi state, party president Luxmikant Bajpai had said that nobody expected that party would be routed in the state where it had swept in Lok Sabha polls. He further said that it was a learning process and the party would have to reconnect with the masses at village and ward level.

A large number of BJP leaders were happy with jolt given by the Delhi people to PM Naredra Modi and Party president Amit Shah for their autocratic style of functioning because of which several state leaders were ignored.

Uttar Pradesh party leaders now say that senior leaders like Rajnath Singh and Kalraj Mishra as also Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Vinay Katiyar were sidelined on party affairs.

Modi-Shah team was exposed when BJP suffered setback one after another during last eight months in the state’s by elections as also local elections.

Senior leaders pointed out that after winning 73 Lok Sabha seats in Modi wave, the same party lost 11 out of 12 by-elections for UP Assembly seats though party candidates had won Lok Sabha polls.

Again defeat of BJP candidates in cantonment board polls held in Lucknow and Varanasi shocked Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as party lost in their constituencies.

If this was not enough, party got another shock in UP council polls when second candidate could not win the seat. Now senior BJP leaders say that the decision to put second candidate in the absence of adequate numbers in UP Assembly, was also taken by Amit Shah.

Senior leaders pointed out that Amit Shah through his style of functioning had antagonized a large number of party leaders and workers.

IPA was informed that during his roadside reception as party president in Lucknow, Amit Shah did not even come out of his vehicle to respond to welcome by party workers.

After defeat of BJP in Delhi, senior party leaders have now become vocal and one such senior leader Vindyavashini Kumar said that party should not be liberal in taking outsiders in the party.

It would be worth mentioning here that during last eight months, BJP had inducted several outsiders from different parties and assured them UP Assembly tickets for 2017 polls.

It may be mentioned here that Jugal Kishore and his family from BSP and family of Fateh Bahadur Singh from Gorakhpur joined the party recently.

It was only after intervention from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat state party leadership announced that party would not take any outsiders till March 31 which is the last date for membership drive.

Leaders like Vindyavasini Kumar now say that party should give tickets to party loyalists or it would face same fate as it did in Delhi when outsiders like Kiran Bedi and others who were given prominence ignoring old workers.

Several senior BJP leaders want that the party should concentrate on development agenda and not on communal issues like ghar vapsi and more kids in the family and demand action against those who had been raising such issues.

BJP leaders who were expecting to sweep the state in 2017 assembly polls are now insisting on change in style in functioning of Modi-Shah team and more democratization to give space to senior leaders from state for better performance in 2017 polls. (IPA)