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UP ministers may throw hat in Lok Sabha poll ring
It’s for the party leadership to take a call on who contests and from where, says state BJP chief on the likelihood of senior UP ministers and party functionaries being roped in for the poll battle from the most populous state
LUCKNOW Many ministers of the Yogi Adityanath cabinet 2.0 and some top leaders of the opposition may contest 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh (UP), if the buzz is anything to go by.
“It’s for the party leadership to take a call on who contests and from where,” said state BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary on the likelihood of senior UP ministers and party functionaries being roped in for the poll battle from the most populous state.
However, he didn’t deny the buzz either, making it apparent that the talk about ministers being drafted into the 2024 poll battle as candidates wasn’t completely unfounded either.
Speculation is rife that two Dalit (Jatav) ministers - Baby Rani Maurya and Asim Arun - are also being seen as possible LS candidates from UP, given BJP’s efforts to make an impact among the community in UP.
More so, as the opposition alliance is said to be mulling fielding Congress’ Dalit chief Mallikarjun Kharge from UP and the move, it is being said, has the consent of the Samajwadi Party, the major player of the opposition alliance in UP.
“Whatever the party says would be done,” said tourism minister Jaivir Singh, currently a lawmaker from Mainpuri assembly seat, a Samajwadi Party bastion represented in Lok Sabha by Dimple Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife.
Jaivir was with the SP earlier, and before that with the Congress too. He is in the BJP’s scheme of things, especially after he defeated the SP from its own bastion in the 2022 UP polls.
Both deputy CMs – Keshav Prasad Maurya who contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and opened BJP’s account on the Phulpur seat – as well as the other deputy CM Brajesh Pathak have been MP from Unnao. When asked if both could also get to contest, a party leader said: “Various aspects will be factored in, including using them in poll campaign as both have appeal among OBCs and Brahmins, the two key caste groups of great importance.”
PWD minister Jitin Prasada, who was Congress’ Brahmin face in UP before he joined BJP and RPN Singh, another Congress veteran from UP, now with BJP, are also being talked about as possible LS candidates. Ballia lawmaker and transport minister Daya Shankar Singh is said to be among the leaders in the running for a party ticket from Ballia.
Political experts admit that a senior leader and popular face contesting from a particular constituency is beneficial for the party as the buildup and focus on that constituency has a ‘ripple effect’ and helps in adjoining constituencies too. “That is why it won’t be surprising if political conglomerates field big leaders in UP,” said Irshad Ilmi, a political expert.
CABINET REJIG IN NAVRATRI?
There is speculation on the likelihood of a cabinet expansion, the first in Yogi 2.0. It has to be seen whether two senior OBC leaders, including senior minister and SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and BJP leader Dara Singh Chauhan, could be made ministers.
“They are most likely to be made ministers…but even after being made ministers, the possibility of them being made to contest the 2024 LS polls from any east UP constituency isn’t ruled out. But these are assumptions, and nothing can of course be said definitely, until the party leadership takes a call,” the leader said.
