Cabinet 2.0: BJP eyes OBC, Brahmin votes in UP polls through rejig

Of the seven new ministers from UP, five hail from the OBC community while one each belong to the Brahmin and SC communities

Apparently expecting a tough contest in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, which are barely nine months away, and given a sustained campaign by the opposition parties highlighting the state government's 'mismanagement' of the Covid-19 pandemic, the BJP has set about getting the caste equations right through Wednesday's cabinet reshuffle.

Of the seven new entrants in the Union ministry, five hail from the OBC (Other Backward Castes) and one each from the Brahmin and SC communities.

One of them, Anupriya Patel, who hails from the electorally influential 'Kurmi' community, is the president of Apna Dal (AD), an alliance partner of the BJP.

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The BJP has sought to placate Patel, who was a member of the Union cabinet in NDA-I and had been sulking after being left out the first time.

By inducting Ajai Mishra, an MP from Kheri Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has made an attempt to woo the powerful 'Brahmin' community, which, of late, has not been happy with the Yogi Adityanath government in the state. Several brahmin MLAs and leaders of the saffron party had indicated that the community was being "persecuted" by the current regime.

Also read — Cabinet rejig: 7 ministers inducted from poll-bound UP

The induction of Kaushal Kishore, an MP from Mohanlalganj LS seat, who hails from 'Pasi' (SC) community was indicative of the BJP's efforts to reach out to the 'Dalits', who are not members of the caste to which BSP supremo Mayawati comes from.

Three others -- Pankaj Chaudhary, Bhanu Pratap Verma and BL Verma -- belong to the 'Kurmi' community, which had stood by the saffron party in the 2014 and 2019 LS polls.

BJP's massive win in the central and Avadh regions in UP was largely attributed to the support of the 'Kurmis'.

It remains to be seen if the latest cabinet rejig, perhaps the last before the assembly polls in UP, does bear electoral fruits for the BJP.