Lucknow: Eyeing a second term in power in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now pursuing the policy of ‘Hindu First’.
This move assumes significance as the BJP, which is stung by a series of defections to the Samajwadi Party, aims to counter Akhilesh Yadav.
The BJP is using the ‘Hindu First’ policy to crack the poll’s caste arithmetic
This policy, which was first propounded by late Kalyan Singh, aims at blurring caste lines and bringing all Hindus, particularly the OBCs and Dalits, under one umbrella.
The BJP’s first list of 107 candidates released earlier on Saturday clearly indicates the saffron party is trying to project an inclusive image and blunt the Samajwadi Party chief’s efforts to polarize the OBCs in his favour.
Taking potshots at the Samajwadi Party president, a senior BJP functionary accepted that the party was consciously trying to demolish caste lines.
“We are not promoting casteism like Akhilesh Yadav is doing. We believe in consolidating all those who are Hindus -- from Dalits to Brahmins,” IANS quoted the party functionary as saying.
“This is what Yogi Adityanath meant when he spoke of 80 versus 20 recently,” he added.
The BJP's first list has 44 OBCs and 19 Dalits, which means nearly 60 percent of the tickets and this is in proportion to the combined Dalit and OBC population, IANS reported.
The BJP fielded 44 OBCs on these seats in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
In an endeavor to placate the Jats in the wake of the farmers’ agitation, the BJP has given the largest representation to Jats – among the OBCs – with 16 seats.
Likewise, the Gurjars and Lodhs have been given seven and six seats respectively.
Besides, the saffron party has also included Saini, Kashyap, Kushwaha, Prajapati and Kurmi candidates.
The BJP has – among the 19 Dalits – given 13 tickets to Jatavs, who constitute Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati’s loyal voter base.
The saffron party, which is not going overboard to please the Brahmin voters this time, has also accommodated other sub castes, including Valmiki, Dhobi, Khatik, Pai and Banjara.
Among the upper castes, Thakurs have got the lion’s share with 18 seats, while Brahmin lag behind with 10 seats and Vaishyas with 8 seats.
In a move aimed at countering Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s women outreach, the BJP has also named 10 women candidates in its first list.