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Yogi-Shah meet sparks cabinet rejig speculation
The BJP has summoned OBC leaders from across the country to Delhi to discuss the issue of caste-based census demand, over which nearly the entire opposition as well as some from within the BJP too are unanimous
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in Delhi on Wednesday triggered speculation about expansion of the Uttar Pradesh cabinet, people familiar with the matter said.
The BJP has summoned OBC leaders from across the country to Delhi on Thursday to discuss the issue of caste-based census demand, over which nearly the entire opposition as well as some from within the BJP too are unanimous, they said.
Top BJP leaders from UP, including chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya - the OBC face of the BJP in UP - among others are likely to be in Delhi on Thursday.
BJP ally and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar is among the OBC leaders who have sought time from the party leadership for a meeting. Asked if he too would be among the leaders assembling in Delhi on Thursday, Rajbhar said: “I have sought time from them, and when I get it, I will go.”
Along with discussing preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the leaders will also mull over the strategy to consolidate the party’s hold over the Other Backward Class (OBC) before the LS election to counter the move of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress to make inroads in the OBC vote bank.
Discussions will be also held over the cabinet expansion. SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and SP rebel Dara Singh Chauhan, who enjoys influence over the backward community in east UP, are likely to be inducted into the ministry. New faces, particularly those belonging to the OBC, will be accommodated in the ministry to give a message to this section of society, said sources.
Pressed to elaborate on his chances of becoming a minister, Rajbhar said: “I will have something to tell on November 7.”
Apart from Rajbhar, senior leader Dara Singh Chauhan could also be summoned to Delhi for discussions, party leaders said.
A senior party leader said: “The final decision is to be taken by Delhi, but there is a sense that given the key OBC groups these leaders hail from, the party surely will treat them with respect.”
The buzz is that a ministry expansion could even happen ahead of Diwali. However, no leader was there to confirm this.
Interestingly, BJP’s other ally Nishad party chief Sanjay Nishad was also in Delhi. “We were in Delhi for some other purpose,” he said.
The OBCs played an important role in the victory of the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 LS polls as well as assembly elections in 2017 and 2022.
Portfolios and responsibilities of a few ministers might be changed to sideline non-performing ministers and promote those whose performance was up to mark, said a BJP leader.
In view of the OBC meeting in Delhi, the BJP state unit Scheduled Caste rally scheduled in Lucknow for Thursday has been postponed. BJP SC Morcha state president Ramchandra Kannuajiya said the party has completed preparations for a massive rally at Smriti Upvan ground under the Dalit outreach drive launched by the party.
“In the evening, we received information from the top leaders that the rally has been postponed. Fresh dates of the event will be announced after discussion with party leaders,” he said.
The BJP has planned six SC meets in UP under its drive to connect with Dalits. The party will continue this campaign, but the main focus will be on OBCs that have been the mainstay of the party in its phenomenal victory in successive elections, said a BJP leader.
“Thursday’s meeting is not about discussing cabinet expansion. It is to discuss the issue of caste-based reservation,” a BJP leader said. “Many within the BJP too feel that there was no harm in going for this,” a BJP leader said as he pointed to a growing Congress pitch for caste-based census.
