The Shiv Sena on Wednesday claimed the BJP, instead of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, was working on how to improve its image and win the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due next year after it "did not do so well" in the panchayat polls there. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana said after failing to win the West Bengal Assembly polls, the BJP leadership has shifted focus to Uttar Pradesh.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting to discuss 'Mission Uttar Pradesh,' the Marathi daily claimed. "It seems as if all issues in the country are resolved and there is only one work left of declaring elections and contesting them...holding massive rallies and roadshows to win polls," it said in taunting remarks.