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Increased OBC, Dalit and ally representation in Yogi 2.0 ministry
Of the four new faces, two each are from east and west regions and the strategic expansion has increased representation of Dalit and OBCs in the Yogi 2.0 cabinet, which now means that the party will woo these two mainstay communities with greater focus ahead of LS polls
LUCKNOW At 5pm on Tuesday, weeks ahead of the implementation of model code of conduct for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s 52-member government finally had four new faces - a Dalit and an OBC lawmaker from its two recent allies and a Brahmin and an OBC face from its own party to better the caste chemistry of the Yogi 2.0 while balancing representation from east and west regions.
Of the four new faces, two each are from east and west regions and the strategic expansion has increased representation of Dalit and OBCs in the Yogi 2.0 cabinet, which now means that the party will woo these two mainstay communities with greater focus ahead of the LS polls.
The Yogi government now has representation of all four allies - Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Apna Dal (S), Nishad Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal - in the ministry.
BJP’s Sunil Kumar Sharma, the lone upper caste in the expansion, has been an old RSS hand who had won the 2022 UP polls with a record margin of 2.14 lakh votes from Ghaziabad’s Sahibabad constituency; a feat he achieved the second time. Kumar’s entry means that Yogi 2.0 now has eight Brahmin ministers and 22 upper caste faces.
The other BJP man in the fray – a silent turncoat – Dara Singh Chauhan, who got the nod despite an embarrassing loss in the Ghosi bypoll in September 2023, mainly because of his Nonia OBC subcaste.
The mercurial BJP ally Om Prakash Rajbhar heads the SBSP that has appeal among Rajbhars, an OBC subcaste with pockets of importance due to its strategic spread in east UP. These two OBC faces now take the total OBC strength of the Yogi 2.0 ministry to 22. The entry of Anil Kumar, the Dalit minister, the lawmaker from Purqazi in Muzaffarnagar and who has found entry in Yogi 2.0 from the Rashtriya Lok Dal quota means that he would be the 10th Dalit face of the Yogi ministry.
When asked what his entry into Yogi 2.0 meant, Anil said, “Now, in west UP, which as you know is the area of our influence, our power will get added to that of the BJP and the effect of this union would be there for all to see in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.”
Om Prakash Rajbhar, who represents the Zahoorabad constituency in Ghazipur in east UP and outside whose residence jubilant cadres burst firecrackers and danced joyously, wasted no time in declaring that the expansion of the Yogi 2.0 has prepared the script for the party’s 80/80 sweep in UP.
“I won’t leave any stone unturned in ensuring complete sweep for BJP-led-NDA,” he said. “Abki baar 400 paar (this time BJP-NDA will cross 400 seats nationally),” said Dara Singh Chauhan. Both Rajbhar and Dara were cabinet ministers in Yogi’s first government but both rebelled – Rajbhar in 2019 and Dara in 2022 – to join the Samajwadi Party but rejoined BJP-NDA after Yogi Adityanath created a record by returning to power in UP for a second consecutive term.
“The expansion reflects BJP-NDA’s ‘triveni’ of OBC, Dalit and upper castes and is a continuance of our sabka-saath, sabka-vikas focus,” deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said.
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, who was in regular touch with SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, too said the Yogi 2.0 ministry expansion reflects BJP’s approach to ensure all caste, communities and regions find representation.
