More articles by

Ajay Uprety
Ajay Uprety

Appointment

BJP keeps Brahmins in UP happy by making Mahendra Pandey state chief

mahendra-nath-pandey Mahendra Nath Pandey | ANI

The BJP played caste card in Uttar Pradesh again, appointing Mahendra Nath Pandey—a Brahmin—as state party chief in order to appease 11 per cent Brahmins in the state. The party's choice comes as a surprise as Pandy has been serving as the union minister of state for human resource development.

Pandey, who will replace present state president Keshav Prasad Maurya who is a backward caste leader, is not new to UP politics. He represents Chandauli Lok Sabha constituency

and has done his higher studies from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the state where he obtained a doctorate in Hindi and master's degree in journalism. He was also active in student politics at BHU.

He was an MLA in UP during 1991-92 and later from 1996 to 2002. Pandey served as urban development and panchyati raj minister in the UP cabinet from 1997 to 2002.

As a MP, he was a member of Standing Committee on Rural Development and Consultative Committee for Ministry of Steel and Mines.

Pandey, 59, enjoys a good rapport with the Sangh Parivar and has been with the RSS for the past four decades. He has been a confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The party strategists feel that with two upper caste people in two key posts—Yogi Adityanath, who belongs to Thakur community, as the CM and Pandy as the state chief—the BJP will be able to keep Thakurs and Brahmins happy before the 2019 general elections. These two politically powerful castes play a vital role in decision making and forming public opinion in the state.

Around two years ago, the BJP high command had entrusted Pandey with the responsibility of conducting organisational polls in the state. From then, his stature started rising in the eyes of senior leaders of the party.

Pandey has comprehensive experience as far as organistional skills are concerned. The biggest challenge before his is to fine tune the organisation in the state and ensure a massive victory for the party in the upcoming municipal polls.

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.

Related Reading