Yogi meets Modi, Nadda in Delhi amid UP tumult

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday.

Adityanath met Modi at his residence, a day after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Prime Minister's Office tweeted a picture of the meeting.

Later, Adityanath also met Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda.

The chief minister is on a two-day visit to the national capital from Thursday to meet the BJP top brass.

His visit comes close on the heels of the party holding a series of review meetings in Lucknow, which had fuelled speculation of a ministerial reshuffle in the state.

During his meeting with Shah, Adityanath presented a copy of the report 'Solution of Migrant Crisis'.

His visit to the national capital started a day after Jitin Prasada quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

After Adityanath met Shah, Prasada called on the Uttar Pradesh chief minister New Delhi.

BJP MLC A K Sharma, a former IAS officer who is seen as a trusted hand of Modi, is also in Delhi to meet party leaders and allies.

Though there is no official word on whether there will be a Cabinet expansion in Uttar Pradesh, sources said Prasada, who comes from a noted Brahmin family of the state with political heft, and Sharma may be accommodated in such an eventuality.

BJP's general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh had earlier this month visited the state to review the party's preparations for the assembly elections and held meetings with key ministers and organisation leaders.

Senior BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh, who is in-charge of the party's affairs in Uttar Pradesh, had also visited the state.

In a statement issued in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government said, 'The chief minister met the prime minister in New Delhi. It was a courtesy meeting in which the chief minister expressed his gratitude to the prime minister for his guidance for the development of the state and the welfare of its people.'

Adityanath said Modi's mantra of 'Trace, Test and Treat' was adopted by his government during the second wave of the Covid pandemic, which yielded better results.

When there was a sudden rise in the demand for oxygen, the operation of the Oxygen Express trains by the railways and the transportation of oxygen tankers by the Indian Air Force helped supply the life-saving gas to the state, he said.

He said Modi took a commendable decision to provide free coronavirus vaccines to the states for all citizens above the age of 18 years.