BJP's dismal performance in UP affect state's share in union ministry

Lucknow: The BJP's dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls has resulted in a reduction in the number of ministers from the state in the union Cabinet, with only 9 making it to Modi 3.0, excluding Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the previous NDA government, there were 14 ministers, including Modi, from the state. Of the 13 ministers from the state who had contested the Lok Sabha polls this time, as many as 7 lost from their respective constituencies.

Besides Modi, who represented Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, the ministers in Modi 2.0 included Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Mahendra Nath Pandey, V K Singh, Sadhvi Nirjanjan Jyoti, Sanjiv Baliyan, Pankaj Choudhary, S P Singh Baghel, Bhanu Pratap Verma, Kaushal Kishore, B L Verma, Ajay Kumar Mishra (all BJP), and Anupriya Patel from Apna Dal (S).

While B L Verma was a member of the Rajya Sabha, V K Singh was denied re-nomination this time. Smriti Irani, Niranjan Jyoti, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Kaushal Kishore, Bhanu Pratap Verma, and Sanjiv Baliyan failed to make it to the LS this time.

Those who were again included in the union Cabinet from the state are Rajnath Singh, Pankaj Choudhary, B L Verma, Anupriya Patel and S P Singh Baghel. The new ministers from the state included Jitin Prasada, who won from Pilibhit; Kirti Vardhan Singh, who won from Gonda; Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president and Rajya Sabha member Jayant Choudhary; and Kamlesh Paswan, who won from Bansgaon LS seat. While 5 ministers were repeated, four were new faces.

The selection of ministers from UP indicates an attempt to balance the caste equations as well as representation to all the regions of the state, where the saffron party has suffered huge losses this time. It even lost the Ayodhya LS seat to its arch-rival Samajwadi Party.

The inclusion of Kamlesh Paswan is indicative of an attempt to prevent the Dalit voters of the BSP from shifting to the SP. A large section of the BSP core voters from the Dalit community is said to have voted for the I.N.D.I.A bloc in the state.

Similarly, the BJP has sought to placate the powerful Thakur community by including Kirti Vardhan Singh in the ministry. Jitin Prasad's inclusion is aimed at giving representation to the Brahmins. Of the 9 ministers from UP, 4 were from OBC, 2 Thakurs, 1 Brahmin and 2 from the Dalit community.

The BJP, which had won 62 seats in UP in the 2019 LS polls, could win only 32 seats this time. Its alliance partners ,Apna Dal and RLD, had won one and two seats, respectively.