Learning lessons — BJP to woo upper castes in UP

The drubbing in the recent Assembly polls has prompted the BJP to turn its attention on upper caste communities in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

The saffron party's defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have largely been attributed to widespread resentment among the upper castes.

According to sources, the state government would soon initiate a number of steps to woo the upper castes.

A senior BJP leader here told DH on Friday that the state government would be "accommodating" members of the upper castes in the public corporations and state government enterprises.

"A large number of vacancies exist in state-owned enterprises and public corporations...they will be filled in the next few days...we expect members of the upper castes to be accommodated there," the saffron party leader said.

Besides the state government would also be nominating hundreds of corporators in various municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats. "We will ensure that member of the upper castes get fair representation," he added.

"We cannot take any chance with our upper caste vote bank...it backed us wholeheartedly in 2014...we need to keep it intact...we lost in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh primarily owing to the resentment among these castes," the leader said.

BJP legislator Surendra Singh said that the saffron party had paid a price for "ignoring" the upper castes. "There is nothing wrong in providing facilities to the members of the SC and ST but it cannot be done at the cost of the upper castes," Singh said after the loss in the three states in the Hindi heartland.