Prayagraj: Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Tuesday said whether opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP), BSP and Congress, contest together or separately, BJP’s “lotus” has already bloomed in Uttar Pradesh.“BJP-led NDA govt is in power in the state and will continue to remain so. No strategy of the opposition will succeed,” he said.Maurya was in the city to attend private functions.Dismissing the protests led by Congress and SP over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Maurya termed them “complete flops” and “mere theatrics”.“The people of the country and the state will not accept such antics,” he said.Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, Maurya said opposition leaders were restless because they were out of power. He claimed their agitation was not aimed at public welfare but at removing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and bringing Rahul Gandhi to power.Maurya alleged that attempts were being made to create instability in the country at the behest of international forces.“The opposition has no real issues. Their agitation failed to garner public support, and attempts were made to hold the national capital hostage,” he said.Maurya added that some leaders viewed Prime Minister’s post as the Gandhi family’s “personal fiefdom”, while Akhilesh considered the chief minister’s post the “hereditary property” of the Saifai family.“Neither the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s chair is reserved for Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family, nor is the Prime Minister’s Office the private estate of the Gandhi family. The people have repeatedly given their mandate to the BJP because of its governance and law-and-order record,” he said.On Rahul approaching Supreme Court against Election Commission, Maurya termed the move “inappropriate”.“If Rahul wants to fight democratically, he should go to the people or stage protests, but he should not drag the country’s apex court into political agitations,” he said.The deputy chief minister expressed confidence that BJP would form govt with a massive majority in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and claimed that SP would be wiped out politically.He also asserted that BJP would form govt in Punjab and retain power in Uttarakhand and Goa. Maurya further claimed that BJP-backed candidates would win all 11 teachers’ and graduates’ MLC seats in Uttar Pradesh.BJP leaders Vivek Mishra, Pawan Srivastava and Ashish Gupta were also present on the occasion.