His former political secretary and aide Sudhanshu Trivedi, now a spokesperson said today the BJP had "several able persons" who could be chief minister. A senior leader said: "We are not fighting Uttar Pradesh to lose." BJP president Amit Shah iterated his fight was with the ruling Samajwadi Party and not the BSP. He is likely to elaborate on an agenda themed on "development" and "farmers' welfare", one that he set forth at his first Uttar Pradesh rally at Saharanpur on May 26. As speculation raged on TV channels yesterday that Rajnath Singh could be the face, the home minister sought to quell the rumours.

Source: The Telegraph June 10, 2016 21:11 UTC