Lucknow: A Dalit minister from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet has been at the centre-stage of BJP’s deliberations for the election to the party’s national president’s post.
Highly placed sources said that the minister, a Jatav, the Dalit sub-caste to which BSP chief Mayawati also belongs, held a national organisational post besides being in contention for the post of deputy CM of UP in the past.
The name of the minister recently cropped up along with the names of two other Dalit leaders – Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and BJP’s national general secretary Dushyant Gautam, sources said.
The BJP political circuit, as a matter of fact, has been abuzz with speculation over the party’s plans to appoint a Dalit as a national president or as UP state chief. The election for the two top organisational posts is expected to be completed by February.
The development has attained much significance days after the BJP found itself in a spot in the wake of a row in Parliament over home minister Amit Shah’s remark on Dalit icon BR Ambedkar. Led by Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit, the Congress stirred up a narrative to paint BJP as anti-Dalit while cashing in on it effectively during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Not surprisingly, picking a Dalit for a top organisational chair could potentially arm the BJP to counter the opposition more aggressively while consolidating the electorally significant SC vote bank.
Political analysts said that BJP plans to consider a Dalit face for the top organisational post would also require the backing of its ideological fountainhead, the RSS. Sources said that former Etawah MP Ram Shankar Katheria, who belongs to the Dhanuk community, a Dalit sub-caste, is one of the few choices of the RSS, essentially for the post of UP BJP chief. Katheria was also BJP national general secretary and chairman of the National Commission for SC.
Among other names from the Dalit community, the BJP is mulling the names of former MPs Vidya Sagar Sonkar and Vinod Sonkar.
UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai said that the party would choose its national and state presidents after considering all parameters and equations which are suitable for the party. “It is early to say anything at this point in time,” he said.
Sources said that the BJP would give the RSS’s choice a high priority. Reason: the BJP burned its fingers in the Lok Sabha elections when RSS kept away following national party president JP Nadda’s remarks that the party was “Saksham” (capable) on its own.
The new national president, undoubtedly, will have the stamp of PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. Likewise, the new state president in UP will have to be in consonance with CM Yogi Adityanath, the key political figure who would be steering the party’s electoral prospects in the run-up to the high-stakes 2027 UP assembly elections.
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news is originally published on timesofindia.com and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially for human rights.
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