Amit Shah’s new central team has a clear east UP tilt

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Amit Shah has tried to strengthen the party’s social alliance in eastern UP by appointing three of five national chiefs of its frontal organisations from that region. Former Lok Sabha member Dara Singh Chauhan is the party’s OBC Morcha president and Lok Sabha MPs Vinod Sonkar and Virendra Singh have been appointed national chiefs of BJP’s Dalit Morcha and Kisan Morcha, respectively.

All three of them hail from eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chauhan and Singh have replaced SPS Baghel and Vijaypal Tomar, respectively, both of whom hail from western Uttar Pradesh. PM Narendra Modi had inducted party MP Mahendra Pandey, also from eastern UP, into the Union Council of Ministers in July.

The appointment of Kisan Morcha chief Virendra Singh is seen as an attempt to woo Thakurs. He had shot to fame after he defeated Phoolan Devi in the 1998 LS elections.

Chauhan and Sonkar hail from OBC and Dalit communities, respectively. While Chauhan hails from Nonia (ditch-digger/salt maker) community among OBCs, Sonkar hails from Khatik (butcher) community among Dalits. Both communities are spread across UP and Bihar. Promoting them is part of BJP’s attempt to woo non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatav Dalits.

“Narendra Modi’s election as PM has sent a strong signal among extremely backward communities who have been flocking to the BJP since then. Amit Shah’s attempts to accommodate EBCs in the organisation have also increased EBC confidence in BJP. The BJP commands trust of larger sections of EBCs, compared to SP and BSP put together,” Chauhan told ET.

However, removing Tomar and Baghel could put the party at a disadvantage in western UP. Though replacing Tomar with another Thakur may have partially taken care of the caste balance, Baghel’s exit could be tricky.