-Rajesh Mishra
Lucknow: With the start of the second innings of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, the discussions about who will be the state BJP president have intensified. From some strong names left out of the Council of Ministers to the names of influential people in the organization, the names of the people are floating in the air. There was a lot of speculation on social media last week regarding the appointment of the new state president of BJP. The news of the appointment of former Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma to this post kept going viral. BJP MLA from Rae Bareli Aditi Singh also fueled speculations by congratulating Srikkanth on social media. At the same time, when some leaders called up Srikanth, he denied having any such information.
Significantly, BJP state president Swatantradev Singh has been made Jal Shakti Minister in the state government. Due to the implementation of the principle of one person one post in the party, a new state president has to be appointed in place of Swatantradev. Although Swatantradev’s tenure is till July 19, but it is believed that the new state president may be appointed soon to keep the organizational work smooth.
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brahmin samaj gave bumper vote to bjp
Keeping in view the importance of caste in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, it cannot be denied that it will not be taken into consideration while deciding the BJP chief. Since the head of the state government is from the Thakur community and there is ample representation of the backward in the council of ministers, the eyes are fixed on the leaders coming from the Brahmin and Dalit community. The way the brahmin samaj has voted for BJP in the midst of news like ignorance, resentment and played a role in forming the government that got a bumper victory, its claim becomes strongest.
discussion of many names
During the Lok Sabha elections from 2004 to 2019 in UP, the state president of the BJP has been a Brahmin. Kesarinath Tripathi in 2004, Ramapatiram Tripathi in 2009, Laxmikant Bajpai in 2014 and Mahendranath Pandey in 2019 were the state presidents. Therefore, there is speculation that this post may be given to a Brahmin leader even before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Brahmin leaders include Shrikant Sharma, Noida MP Mahesh Sharma, Aligarh MP Satish Gautam, Basti MP and National Minister Harish Dwivedi, Kannauj MP Subrata Pathak, State General Secretary Ashwini Tyagi, State Vice President Vijay Bahadur Pathak and Brij Bahadur Upadhyay and former Deputy The names of Chief Minister Dr. Dinesh Sharma are prominent. The Brahmins constitute about 10 per cent of the total population in the state and this community is electorally significant. An argument is also being given behind making a Brahmin leader as the state president that despite the news of all the displeasure in the recent assembly elections of the state, Brahmin voters were seen united in favor of BJP.
BJP got success here
Along with Brahmins, the society about which the BJP central leadership is waging the most is the Dalit community. In UP, the BSP has generally been entitled to votes of a large number of Dalits. However, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had achieved little success in debunking this myth. The BJP got at least a major chunk of the non-Jatav Dalit vote, first in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and then in the 2017 Assembly and then in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Discussion on these names intensified with Dalit community
A bigger success than any win for the BJP has been the mobilization of a majority of Dalits and even a few votes from the Jatav community in the 2022 assembly elections. For the first time in the last three decades in the politics of the state, any non-BSP party has made a dent in the votes of Jatav community and the BJP will continue to work for this fraternity. In view of this important fact, there is also a possibility that the next BJP president in UP should be from the Dalit community. At present, the names of some people including Vidyasagar Sonkar, GS Dharmesh, Laxman Acharya are being discussed among the leaders of the Dalit community in BJP.