Brahmin trouble brewing for BJP ahead of Uttar Pradesh polls

Several senior brahmin saffron party leaders, who have been sidelined, are demanding more representation for the community in distribution of tickets

As the BJP sets about to "douse" the perceived anger among the electorally influential brahmin community and bring them back into its fold ahead of the forthcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, several senior brahmin saffron party leaders, who have been sidelined, appeared to have put the party leadership on notice and demanded more representation for the community in distribution of tickets. They also signalled that they could even consider "other options" if their demand was not accepted.

According to the sources, a meeting was held a few days ago in Kanpur that included former minister Ravindra Shukla, former BJP MLA Neeraj Chaturvedi and Kanpur district women's wing president Radha Duney, among others.

The leaders expressed their resentment over what they claimed "under representation" of the brahmin community in the distribution of tickets as well as party organisation and government. ''The party (BJP) has been fielding candidates of other castes on brahmin dominated seats...it can not be tolerated,'' said one of the leaders present at the meeting.

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The leaders decided that they would hold another meeting in the next few days at Lucknow and discuss their future strategy.

The meetings come amid efforts by the saffron party to "douse" the perceived anger among the brahmin community ahead of the polls. The party has formed a 16-member committee to reach out to the community and convey to them the steps taken by the Centre and state government for brahmins, besides reminding their persecution during the Samajwadi Party (SP) government.

In a bid to placate the community, BJP's Ajai Kumar Mishra, a brahmin MP from Lakhimpur Kheri, was made a minister in the union cabinet. Congress leader Jitin Prasada, who jumped ship to the BJP, was also made a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet. The pressure from the community on the BJP was such that the Modi government refused to sack Mishra —despite the entire opposition gunning for his head over his son's alleged involvement in the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri — fearing a backlash.

The Adityanath government found itself under attack from the brahmin community leaders and also from its own brahmin lawmakers after the controversial encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey, a brahmin, who, with his accomplices, gunned down seven cops in Kanpur. A little later, six members of his gang, all brahmins, were also shot dead in encounters. Dubey was termed as the saviour of the community and BJP was dubbed "anti-brahmin."

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BJP legislator from Sultanpur district Deomani Dwivedi, a brahmin, had sought to know from the state government about the number of brahmins murdered in the state since the BJP came to power in UP and in how many cases the police were able to arrest the culprits.

The recent inductions of several high-profile brahmin leaders, including an MLA each from the BJP and a BSP, mostly hailing from Gorakhpur, to the SP has triggered unease in the BJP. Those who joined the SP include Pandit Hari Shankar Tewari, one of the tallest brahmin leaders in 'Poorvanchal' (eastern region) and a six-term MLA in the state assembly from Chillupar seat in Gorakhpur, and his two sons, one of whom was a BSP MLA and another a former MP.

Digvijay Narayan Chaube, the BJP lawmaker from Khalilabad assembly seat, which was in the Gorakhpur division, also joined the SP along with several other prominent brahmin faces from the eastern region of the state.

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