New Delhi, January 6: Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sangh Priya Gautam dropped a bombshell on his party on Saturday when he said Modi wave was unlikely to work in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Demanding that Nitin Gadkari should be made deputy prime minister, Sangh Priya Gautam said the BJP will be wiped out in all states if general elections were held today.

"The Modi mantra is unlikely to work again in the forthcoming general elections and the party workers admit this in private and are suffering in silence,” Gautam, who was a Minister of State in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, said. He pitched for major organisational changes in the BJP leadership at the national level and in Uttar Pradesh which sends the maximum number of MPs to Lok Sabha. Unemployment Biggest Problem Facing the Country, Says Nitin Gadkari.

In a letter released to media, Gautam said BJP national president should hand over the post to former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and focus in Rajya Sabha. He demanded that Nitin Gadkari should be made the deputy prime minister while Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh should replace Yogi Adityanath as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Adityanath should be sent to do religious work, he added. BJP Made 'Unrealistic Promises', Admits Nitin Gadkari in TV Interview; 'You are Right', Reverts Rahul Gandhi.

Gautam also slammed his party for changing the name of the Planning Commission and interfering in the working of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Reserve Bank of India. The decision of his party to anyhow form governments in Goa and Manipur, he added, was not in the right spirit. He also hit out at his party for attempting to topple an elected government in Uttarakhand.

Last month, a prominent Maharashtra farmers' leader, the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM) Chairman Kishore Tiwari wrote to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Bhaiyyaji Suresh Joshi, demanding immediate replacement of an "arrogant" Modi with the "gentle" Nitin Gadkari if the BJP wants to win the next elections.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2019 11:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).