Yogi Adityanath was elected leader of the Uttar Pradesh BJP’s legislative party on Thursday, and a factually incorrect claim he made immediately after found itself rectified in Amit Shah’s speech at the event.

At the meeting in the state secretariat in Lucknow, the chief minister said: “It is for the first time in the history of Uttar Pradesh that a party is back to power for the second consecutive term. This has happened because of the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah.”

Speaking immediately after Adityanath, Shah set the record straight. “It is after 35 years that a party has won the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh for the second time in a row. And it is for the first time in the history of Uttar Pradesh that someone is taking over as chief minister for the second consecutive term,” Shah said.

The Congress had won Uttar Pradesh twice in 1980 and 1985. However, the chief minister was changed frequently during this period.

The BJP appointed Shah as the observer for Uttar Pradesh ahead of the selection of a new chief minister. Many in the BJP has found it mystifying that such a lightweight assignment has been given to such a senior leader, especially since the anointment of Adityanath as chief minister for a second term is being seen as a formality.

Some are viewing Shah’s appointment as an attempt to underscore the importance of the second-most powerful leader of the current regime, against the backdrop of the rising stature of Adityanath after the stunning victory in the Assembly polls.

“The Opposition and many other forces had been spreading misinformation about the BJP but the voters showed trust in Prime Minister Modi. Nobody believed before 2017 that there could be rule of law in the state,” Adityanath said at Thursday’s event. He claimed that Uttar Pradesh was ahead of other states in implementing the welfare schemes of the central government.

Adityanath will take oath as chief minister at Ekana International Stadium in Lucknow on Friday in the presence of over 50,000 guests, including sadhus who have been invited from all over the country.

Sources in the government said senior officials had been deployed in the state capital to look after the comfort of the 5,000-odd sadhus who have already reached Lucknow.

Shah said: “The people have been reacting against casteist and dynastic politics since 2014. The BJP government is laying a new foundation for the state and this is from where the journey of change begins.”