• Source:JND

UP Cabinet Expansion: In a bid to secure a hat-trick in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set the stage for balancing caste and regional equations through the much-anticipated expansion of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet.

While the Samajwadi Party (SP) is focussing on PDA (Pichde, Dalits, and Alpsankhyak) for the elections to the 19th Assembly to be held after about eight months, the BJP has made a big move to blunt it by giving much more representation to the representatives of backward and Dalit communities in the expansion.

The SP seems to be busy expanding its reach among castes like Jat, Gurjar, Pal, Valmiki, and Pasi for the elections. The BJP has woven a web of cabinet support to counter this SP strategy. Three more ministers have been appointed from the OBC community, with two others promoted. Two more ministers have also been appointed from the Dalit community.

60 Per Cent Ministers Now From OBC, SC Communities

After Sunday's expansion, the OBC and Dalit communities now represent 60 per cent of the 60-member cabinet, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

While maintaining the participation of the Kshatriya and Vaishya community, the party has also tried to remove the resentment arising in the society regarding UGC and other issues by making Manoj Pandey, the only one from the upper caste community, a cabinet minister.

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Cabinet Expansion Before Polls Has Implications

The expansion, carried out eight months before the elections, is significant in many ways. While the appointed ministers may not have as long a tenure as others, the ruling BJP has used this opportunity to send a significant message to its Opposition and party workers. Since state politics still hinges on caste balance, the second expansion has specifically focused on caste arithmetic.

Given the decisive role of OBC castes in elections, the representation of Lodh (Kailash Rajput), Pal (Ajit Singh), Vishwakarma (Hansraj), Gurjar (Somendra Tomar), and Jat (Bhupendra Chaudhary) communities, all of which fall under the OBC (Other Backward Classes), has been increased in the cabinet. Previously, the BJP had entrusted the leadership of the party to Pankaj Chaudhary, who belongs to the Kurmi community.

To gain power in the state, both the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party are already eyeing the backward community vote bank, which constitutes approximately 44 per cent of the state's population. Both parties have appointed state presidents to leaders from the backward community.

For the first time, the Valmiki (Surendra Daler) and Pasi (Krishna Paswan) communities from the Scheduled Castes have been given representation in the cabinet. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party, along with the Congress, dealt a major blow to the BJP through the PDA formula.

After the expansion, the Yogi cabinet, which had a maximum of 60 ministers, now has 25 ministers from backward communities, including Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. There are also 11 ministers from Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and 22 from upper castes (eight from the Brahmin community, six from the Rajput community, four from the Vaishya community, two from the Bhumihar community, and one each from the Khatri and Kayastha communities).

Considering the way the BJP has tried to woo the upper castes as well as the non-Yadav OBC community through expansion, it is believed that in the next assembly elections too, the SP-BSP will face a big challenge of making inroads into it.

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Share Of Allies Remains Unchanged

Even though NDA allies had been running to Delhi with rhetoric for quite some time to increase their share in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, no one got a chance in the second expansion. Despite this, the leaders of the allies have remained completely calm. It is believed that after the landslide victories in the Bihar assembly election, followed by the Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry, the allies are now refraining from pressuring the BJP, jagran.com reported.

Allies feel that the favourable atmosphere created by the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership will have an impact on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. In such a situation, exerting any pressure could harm their position within the ruling BJP. Standing with the Opposition, including the Samajwadi Party, is unlikely to yield any benefits at this time.

What Happened In 2017

The BJP contested the 2017 assembly election in alliance with the Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). Upon forming the government, the allies were given cabinet positions.

The Nishad Party also formed an alliance with the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but after being dismissed from his ministerial post, Subhaspa President Om Prakash Rajbhar distanced himself from the BJP. In the 2022 assembly elections, Apna Dal and the Nishad Party remained with the BJP, but Subhaspa contested with the Samajwadi Party.

Six MLAs also won, but after a rift with the SP, Rajbhar again joined the BJP. Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the RLD also broke ties with the SP and joined the BJP. Each MLA from the parties aligned with the BJP is currently a minister in Yogi Adityanath's government.

(With Inputs From Ajay Jaiswal)


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