Team Yogi mirrors Amit Shah's social engineering
BJP has fulfilled what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised while campaigning. Even as the party gained three-fourths majority on its own, it has accommodated winning allies in the state ministry like Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), and Jai Kumar Singh, an Apna Dal MLA from Jahanabad.
At a rally in Mau, Modi had pledged berths to allies in the state cabinet, evoking applause from the crowd as Rajbhar's elevation as a minister in case BJP won was seen as a foregone conclusion. BJP had allied with only two parties - Apna Dal and SBSP, which were allotted 20 seats. Rajbhar's party won four seats and Apna Dal has nine.
This is the SBSP's first victory in assembly polls and its president as a cabinet minister will consolidate the non Yadav OBC vote-bank, which played a vital role in BJP's landslide win. Apna Dal chief Anupriya Patel is already a central minister. Other than allies, the saffron party has been careful about factors which contributed to its overwhelming victory . Party president Amit Shah's social engineering is also reflected in the ministry formation.
There are seven Thakurs, including chief minister Yogi Adityanath, eight Brahmins, 17 OBCs and MBCs in the ministry. Seven Dalit and eight Vaishya ministers are also a strong message that the party will continue striving for Dalit votes, which has been a focus area for the BJP top brass and the RSS. Importance to Vaishya MLAs is aimed at retaining the core voters of the party even while it looks to add more sections.
Yogi Adityanath's elevation as CM is a strong Hindutva message. As is a cabinet berth for Suresh Rana, an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in which 63 people were killed and thousands rendered homeless. Rana is a popular leader in the western region and was a crowd puller during the polls.
Four women: Gulabo Devi, Archana Pandey, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Swati Singh, have made it to the ministry . The saffron party had given 43 tickets to women, of which 32 won.
Swati Singh's journey has been dramatic as she was a housewife a few months ago and jumped into politics when her husband Dayashankar Singh was jailed for abusive remarks against BSP supremo Mayawati. Swati's aggressive stance against BSP leaders was seen as the turning point in the BJP poll strategy as she united upper caste voters and turned the public mood in BJP's favour.
At a rally in Mau, Modi had pledged berths to allies in the state cabinet, evoking applause from the crowd as Rajbhar's elevation as a minister in case BJP won was seen as a foregone conclusion. BJP had allied with only two parties - Apna Dal and SBSP, which were allotted 20 seats. Rajbhar's party won four seats and Apna Dal has nine.
This is the SBSP's first victory in assembly polls and its president as a cabinet minister will consolidate the non Yadav OBC vote-bank, which played a vital role in BJP's landslide win. Apna Dal chief Anupriya Patel is already a central minister. Other than allies, the saffron party has been careful about factors which contributed to its overwhelming victory . Party president Amit Shah's social engineering is also reflected in the ministry formation.
There are seven Thakurs, including chief minister Yogi Adityanath, eight Brahmins, 17 OBCs and MBCs in the ministry. Seven Dalit and eight Vaishya ministers are also a strong message that the party will continue striving for Dalit votes, which has been a focus area for the BJP top brass and the RSS. Importance to Vaishya MLAs is aimed at retaining the core voters of the party even while it looks to add more sections.
Yogi Adityanath's elevation as CM is a strong Hindutva message. As is a cabinet berth for Suresh Rana, an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in which 63 people were killed and thousands rendered homeless. Rana is a popular leader in the western region and was a crowd puller during the polls.
Four women: Gulabo Devi, Archana Pandey, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Swati Singh, have made it to the ministry . The saffron party had given 43 tickets to women, of which 32 won.
Swati Singh's journey has been dramatic as she was a housewife a few months ago and jumped into politics when her husband Dayashankar Singh was jailed for abusive remarks against BSP supremo Mayawati. Swati's aggressive stance against BSP leaders was seen as the turning point in the BJP poll strategy as she united upper caste voters and turned the public mood in BJP's favour.
