The top BJP leadership has set up a test for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath by handing him “full charge” of the upcoming by-elections to 10 Assembly seats in the state to prove his mettle, party insiders said.

The test has been thrust on the chief minister against the backdrop of a raging internal strife in the Uttar Pradesh BJP after the party’s “disastrous” performance in the Lok Sabha polls.

Adityanath is said to be facing a spirited drive led by his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya to unseat him. Maurya has suggested that Adityanath’s high-handed governance style was a major reason for the party’s poor showing in the general election.

The BJP could win just 33 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, with its allies pocketing another three.

Nine of the 10 Assembly seats where by-elections are due were vacated when their incumbents resigned to retain their Lok Sabha seats. The tenth fell vacant after the disqualification of a Samajwadi Party MLA. The Election Commission is expected to announce the poll dates soon.

Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the top BJP leadership on Saturday reviewed the Lok Sabha poll performance in the presence of Adityanath and his two deputies, Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. The central leadership gave full responsibility to Adityanath to steer the by-elections while putting on hold the perceived drive by Maurya for a leadership change in the state, sources said.

Internally, Maurya and his coterie have accused Adityanath of giving short shrift to party workers, angering OBC voters and promoting internal sabotage. Maurya is said to have told the high command that the BJP’s downslide in the heartland state would worsen if the supremacy of the party organisation wasn’t restored by replacing Adityanath at the earliest, insiders said.

Adityanath has in his defence cited “overconfidence” as the prime reason for the debacle and underlined that he had had very little role in the selection of the Lok Sabha candidates, many of whom faced simmering voter anger.

BJP insiders said Adityanath had sought to put the onus of the underwhelming poll results on the central leadership’s “unilateral” selection of “unpopular candidates” while obliquely asserting that the outcome could have been different had he been given a free hand.

“The party leadership has taken note of the complaints by Maurya and other state leaders but has decided not to act in haste,” a BJP leader said.

“The results of the by-elections could play a key role in shaping the leadership’s decision for organisational and other changes in the state,” the leader added, indicating that the by-elections were a test for Adityanath.

After Saturday’s meeting, Adityanath posted a politically loaded message on X: “Attended the meeting of ‘Chief Ministers Council’ held at BJP Headquarters in New Delhi today…. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the journey to build a strong and self-reliant Uttar Pradesh with the mantra of security, good governance and welfare of the poor continues unabated.”

Adityanath seems to have taken up the by-election challenge in right earnest and tasked 16 senior ministers in his government with ensuring a good showing. Neither Maurya nor Pathak is part of the team.

Of the 10 poll-bound Assembly seats, five were won by the Samajwadi Party in the 2022 elections, three by the BJP and one each by NDA allies NISHAD Party and RLD. The RLD had in 2022 contested in alliance with the Samajwadis but is now with the BJP.

BJP insiders said the party and its allies should retain at least the five seats they now hold. That would not be easy given that the Opposition Samajwadi-Congress combine scored over the BJP in some of these Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha polls.