The BJP Parliamentary Board is set to take a decision on who will be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday as per party president Amit Shah. However, political analysts believe that there are two front runners for the post — UP BJP Chief Keshav Prasad Maurya and Yogi Adityanath. Home Minister Rajnath Singh's name had also come up during the course of the campaign but it is unlikely that he would be relieved by the Centre from his current post of Home Minister.
One of the common factors between both the front runners which also strengthens their claim is the fact that both hail from Eastern part of the state. BJP President Amit Shah in his victory speech especially emphasised on the performance of the party in Eastern UP.
Observers believe that it would be no surprise if the BJP goes for a young face to head the nation's most populous state.
Taking a cue from national president Amit Shah, top BJP leaders were unanimous in stating that BJP provided hope to the poor while others relied on caste based politics.
Keshav Prasad Maurya, 47, who is member of Parliament and president of the state unit of the BJP, has a humble origin. Like Prime Minister Modi, he too sold tea at his father's stall in a village. Maurya is also a member of the RSS and had participated in the Ram Janambhoomi movement. He happens to be the OBC face of the party who was elected from Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency after garnering over 52 per cent votes. Some, however, point out that Maurya is not too popular outside the eastern belt of Allahabad and Varanasi regions.
The name of another MP, Yogi Adityanath, 45, also popped up in the race for the chief minister's post. Born Ajay Singh, he took over as the head priest of Gorakhnath Mutt in Gorakhpur after the death of his father in 2014.
However, Adityanath at one point of time had strained relationship with the saffron party. In December 2006 he organised Virat Hindu Mahasammelan in Gorakhpur to coincide with the BJP's national executive meeting in Lucknow. The reason for his action was understood to be his demand to get hundred party tickets for his nominees for 2007 elections. A compromise was however, reached but a few years later in 2010 Adityanath defied party's stand on Women's Reservation Bill.