BJP attempts at non-savarna appeasement with new cabinet ministers in UP

Ahead of the UP assembly elections scheduled to be held next year, seven ministers from the state were inducted into the cabinet on Wednesday. The seven ministers are Anupriya Patel, Pankaj Chaudhary, BL Varma, SP Singh Baghel, Bhanu Pratap Verma, Kaushal Kishore, and Ajay Mishra.

Of the seven, six are non-upper castes. Ajal Mishra is the sole Brahmin. While Patel and Chaudhary are from the Kurmi caste, Varma is from the Lodh community and Baghel is an OBC (Gadaria) but claims to be a scheduled caste. Bhanu Pratap Verma and Kaushal Kishore belong to the Dalit community.

"There was no need to focus on upper castes since we have a Chief Minister who belongs to the Thakur community and a Deputy Chief Minister who is from the Brahmin community. The party wants to send a clear message that it seeks participation in power of sections of society that have not got their due," a party functionary said.

Notably, the BJP has carefully avoided Yadav OBCs in an attempt to damage the Samajwadi Party.