During a close-door meeting with the Governor of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled state, party president Amit Shah—whose idea of Indian Democracy is Congress Mukt Bharat—admitted that the saffron party will get trounced in Uttar Pradesh, if Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) materialised mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Shah—who otherwise is regarded as modern Chanakya in the party—appeared a little worried during the meeting, revealed a highly placed BJP source.

“The party will find it difficult to even cross the double digit mark. Precisely, it will get between three to eight seats,” Shah reportedly acknowledged before the Governor, who is credited for expanding BJP’s base in Western UP before taking up his statutory assignment.

“So, what is the way forward?” asked the Governor.

A few weeks later, answer came from a Union Minister who is considered a prominent, emerging Jat leader within the saffron camp. Talking to a selected group of people in the last week of July at his office in Central Delhi, the Minister is learnt to have told attendees that his party and the Central government are exploring many options to counter the might of the mahagathabandhan. One of the most suitable option to the BJP is division of Uttar Pradesh into four states, the Minister remarked, emphasising that it was the most effective way to checkmate mahagathbandhan in the ensuing general elections.

“He further admitted that growing resentment on the ground will have adverse impact on party’s electoral fortune in Lok Sabha election-2019,” as per a senior journalist who attended the meeting said.

The minister also confirmed that the RSS – BJP’s parental organisation—is also backing BJP’s idea of dividing Uttar Pradesh.