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Cabinet rejig: Decoding BJP’s caste balancing act ahead of 2022 UP polls

Of the seven new ministers from UP, three are Dalits, three OBCs and one a Brahmin

anupriya-patel-pti MP Anupriya Singh Patel with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before taking oath in New Delhi | PTI

The expansion of the central ministry on Wednesday saw seven inductees from Uttar Pradesh—a state which goes to polls in early 2022.

Of the seven, three are Dalits, three OBCs and one a Brahmin.

The Dalit, OBC component is in line with the party’s non-Yadav (among OBCs) and non-Jatav (among Dalits) strategy on which it has capitalised during the last two elections. The lone Brahmin face has been brought in to placate the caste which has complained of being not just overlooked but disrespected under the regime of Yogi Adityanath.

But Ajay Mishra, MP from Kheri whom the BJP has chosen for this placation, can hardly be considered a strong statewide Brahmin face of the party. Mishra who is better known by his moniker Teni, has a much smaller stature than the party’s other Brahmin leaders including the newly inducted Jitin Prasada. He has served a stint as an MLA before being chosen to the Lok Sabha first in 2014. He comes with a clean reputation and is close to the RSS.

Anupriya Patel, is not from the BJP, but comes from its ally the Apna Dal (S)- founded by her father. Her constituency Mirzapur is adjacent to that of the prime minister’s Varanasi and thus strategically important. Yet Patel faces stringent opposition from within her own family—with her mother and sister aligned against her. This could lead to a split in the sizeable Kurmi vote of eastern UP.

Also from eastern UP is Pankaj Chaudhary. Like Patel, he too is a Kurmi, and his induction is hoped to offset any losses that the party might face in western UP because of the ongoing farmers agitation. Chaudhary, who did his college from Gorakhpur and started his political career with municipal politics there, is hoped to have some influence in the CM’s home district too.  

The regional balancing act in this is the choice of SP Singh Baghel, MP from Agra who was formerly with the Samajwadi Party. Baghel’s choice is surprising given that another new inductee Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma has been a party MP for five terms before being given ministerial responsibilities.

A surprise pick is Kaushal Kishore, an MP from Mohanlalganj. He has been a vocal critic of the state government, most particularly the police and COVID-19 management during the second wave. His choice perhaps sends a message to the state’s CM who has very often been pitted against the PM. Kishore, who has the image of being a socially conscious leader, is hoped to sway the Pasi votes—numerically the second largest vote bank after the Jatavs among the state’s Dalits.

The induction of B.L. Verma is a nod to the importance of the Lodh vote bank—the same one over which the state’s former chief minister Kalyan Singh held control. But Verma is from Badaun which falls under Bareilly division— the same division from which is former minister Santosh Gangwar. Gangwar’s removal could be a self-goal for the party as not only did he have a good sway over his own caste votes, but he is also widely regarded as a leader with popularity cutting across caste lines. Verma’s induction is unlikely to balance the loss of votes that Gangwar’s removal will result in.

The expansion has overlooked the Nishad party which claims to have a grip over 14 per cent of the state’s vote share.  Party chief Sanjay Nishad had recently met Home Minister Amit Shah and later told the media that his party had been assured a cabinet berth before the previous Lok Sabha elections. He has also been vocal about his role in the formation of the state government.

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