I am completely fine and back home: UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya after being discharged

Keshav Prasad Maurya, chief of the UP's BJP unit, was admitted to the ICU of RML hospital in New Delhi on Thursday. However, later in the day he took to Twitter saying he has been discharged and is back home.

"This is to inform all my well wishers that I have been discharged from hospital and am back home. I am completely fine, thanks to your blessings. Do not worry about me," he said.

सभी शुभचिंतकों को अवगत कराना चाहूंगा की हॉस्पिटल से डिस्चार्ज होकर घर आ गया हूं आप सब का आशीर्वाद है मैं पूर्ण स्वस्थ हूं निश्चिंत रहें pic.twitter.com/Dz2l6MErnG

— Keshav Prasad Maurya (@kpmaurya1) March 16, 2017

According to a senior doctor of the hospital, the 48-year-old leader was admitted at 3.38 PM. "He was suffering from cough and cold and mild fever for last seven days and overwork due to his political commitments. "On admission his blood pressure was slightly higher. At present he is fully conscious and better. He is kept under observation for further evaluation," medical superintendent Dr AK Gadpayle said. 

Who will be the new UP CM?

With speculation rife over the BJP's chief ministerial pick for Uttar Pradesh, party chief Amit Shah left everyone guessing with his remark that he has given the responsibility of choosing the CM to state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya. Maurya, who is himself seen as one of the probables, then told reporters that how can he choose himself, when asked if he is a contender for the post. Shah was asked by reporters following the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting about the chief ministerial nominee for the state. "I have left the responsibility to Keshav (to choose the CM)," he said while leaving. Reporters then rushed to Maurya, who was also there. There were even conjectures within the party after these remarks as to whether Maurya, who is BJP's OBC face in UP, is out of the reckoning. 

Shah has been holding meetings with top party leaders from UP and also Uttarakhand to decide on the choice of chief ministers for the two states where the saffron outfit has received unprecedented mandate.

Besides Maurya, union ministers Rajnath Singh and Manoj Sinha are seen as strong contenders for the post in UP. Trivendra Singh Rawat, Prakash Pant and Satpal Maharaj are front-runners for the job in Uttarakhand.

However, most party leaders appeared clueless about the likely picks. With the BJP leadership often surprising people with choice of state leaders, like Manohar Lal Khattar and Vijay Rupani, both of whom were not seen as favourites to lead governments in Haryana and Gujarat, sources said relatively lesser known leaders cannot be ruled out.

Newly elected UP BJP MLAs will meet in Lucknow on March 18 and are likely to elect their legislature party leader. Party's central observers - Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav - will be present at the meeting on Saturday, UP BJP General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said. Newly elected UP BJP MLAs will meet here on March 18 and are likely to elect their legislature party leader, a week after the party won the assembly elections with three-fourth majority. "Party's central observers - Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav - will be present at the meeting on Saturday at 5 PM," UP BJP General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak told PTI here.

Asked specifically as to whether there was any likelihood of an election for the post of the leader of the Legislature Party, Pathak avoided a direct reply, saying, "I can't say." With various pros and cons weighing heavily on their mind, BJP top brass has kept pending the decision on the next Chief Minister despite winning 325 seats along with its allies in the 403-member House.

Sources said the party was extra cautious as it does not want to take one wrong step when it comes to Uttar Pradesh, where it stormed to power after a 14-year hiatus.

Moreover with the next Lok Sabha election in 2019 in mind, the party cannot afford to take any wrong decision, said some insiders when asked about the delay in declaring the CM's name.

After a stupendous win in the Assembly election, the party can ill afford to lower its guard in 2019 general elections.

Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha and is extremely important in the BJP's scheme of things.

Party insiders said the overwhelming mandate has posed a fresh challenge for the BJP to meet sky-high expectations. Earlier, the party's observers for Uttar Pradesh were expected to reach Lucknow on March 15 and the meeting with newly elected MLAs was said to be likely on March 16. As the suspense continued, several MLAs made trips to Delhi for talks with party leadership. The caste calculus, meticulously stitched by BJP chief Amit shah and his team, which helped the BJP win, is a major consideration for deciding on the next Uttar Pradesh chief minister. The party also knows that given the kind of bumper voting it has got from both forward castes as well as non-Yadav OBCs, it would not want to upset the caste balance. There are talks that if the chief minister is made from one community, a deputy chief minister can be chosen from another community to maintain balance.

Given the sheer sweep of BJP's victory which extended beyond geographical and caste boundaries, the party can have the luxury of nominating a person for the top job who can deliver on Modi's development agenda and the promise of putting down alleged lawlessness in the state under SP.

As of now the names for the top post doing the rounds include Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Manoj Sinha.  Singh, a former UP chief minister, is probably the tallest BJP leader in the state, while Sinha, an upper caste Bhumihar, too has considerable administrative experience. However, their choice could antagonise lower caste voters.

Another probable is Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, who has strong links with RSS.

(With PTI inputs)