What Route Will The CM And His Deputies Take To The State Legislature? 

With Yogi Adityanath government firmly in the seat, attention will now gradually shift towards the by-elections which will be conducted post the Chief Minister, and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacate their parliamentary seats.

Yogi is a Member of Parliament (MP) from Gorakhpur and Maurya represents the Phulpur constituency in Lok Sabha. As they are not members of either the Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, they are constitutionally bound to seek elections within six months or by September this year.

For them to contest from any assembly or legislative council seat, some members will have to resign and make way for the two leaders.

Their resignations from Lok Sabha will lead to two by-elections in their parliamentary constituencies.

Three other members of Yogi’s cabinet - Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, Minorities Affairs Minister Mohsin Raza and State Minister, Transport - Swatantra Deo Singh are also not elected members of either of the two Houses. It is too early to say whether they will opt for the Lower House or take the easier route of Upper House, though assembly option seems more likely.

Though the search for a safe seat is yet to begin, there are quite a few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators willing to give up their seats for the Chief Minister in anticipation of getting a ticket to Lok Sabha. Vipin Singh, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Gorakhpur rural, Sheetal Pandey from Sahjanwa and Fateh Bahadur Singh from Capierganj are among those ready to quit for the Chief Minister.

Apart from any of the above three MLAs, the party may also ask Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, the legislator from Gorakhpur Sadar, to vacate his seat for Yogi, while propelling him to the Lok Sabha.

Agarwal and Yogi are not the best of friends, but this arrangement would work well for the Chief Minister, as he would then be the unchallenged master of Gorakhpur.

At least among other leaders, there is a talk of following Rajnath Singh's idea, which is asking some opposition MLAs to vacate their seats. After being appointed Chief Minister in 2000, Rajnath had contested from Haidergarh in Barabanki. The seat was vacated by Puttu Awasthi of the Congress Party.

Many from among the seven Congress and 19 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislators would be willing to do a favour as a quid pro quo. It would all depend on whether the BJP wants to further weaken the BSP or decimate the Congress.

What now for Rajnath Singh?

Talking of Rajnath makes one crystal gaze the Lucknow MP’s position in the party. Even though he holds the second most important position in the Union Cabinet, he is virtually marginalised.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah who led the party to a record-breaking victory in Uttar Pradesh, showed Rajnath that they were capable of handling the state better than him and that their appeal among the masses was stronger than his.

Modi and Shah dealt a further blow to him by appointing Adityanath as Chief Minister. His "Thakur" card was thrown out of the window as Adityanath, with his ability to connect with a section of the Hindus, appeared to have a bigger following than the Union Home Minister.

And the proverbial last nail, Rajnath’s son Pankaj Singh was not considered for a ministerial berth while Kalyan Singh’s grandson Sandeep Singh and Lalji Tandon’s son, Ashutosh Tandon, both were appointed ministers. Sandeep, 26, is a first-time MLA.

This ignominy is sure to rankle Rajnath, who was said to be in the race for chief minister’s post.

Although the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister is prepared for a long haul, Modi’s growing popularity and Shah’s tightening hold on the party do not augur well for Rajnath. He seems star-crossed as of now.