Big fight for Brahmin votes in Uttar Pradesh

From Brahmin Chetna Manch to the promise of 108 feet idol of Parshuram, politicians in Uttar Pradesh vying with each other to woo the community, which has so far voted pragmatically to share the power pie ever since it ceased to play the lead role in state politics after 1989.

The state which saw a series of Brahmin Chief Ministers till 1989 with N D Tiwari of Congress being the last one, witnessed a social metamorphosis in power politics since the rise of Mandal-Kamandal politics and in last 31 years, it was ruled by either a Dalit or an OBC leader—Kalyan Singh (Lodh), Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav. BJP’s Rajnath Singh a prominent leader belonging to Thakur (Rajput) community and Ram Prakash Gupta (Vaishya) also became CM for a brief period in this time frame but no Brahmin CM came.

In the meanwhile the Brahmins, who had seen well-known CMs from their community such as-- Govind Ballabh Pant, Kamlapati Tripathi, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, Sripati Mishra, N D Tiwari, shifted into the secondary role, switching sides from Congress to BJP at the height of Ram temple movement, then to Samajwadi Party and BSP, when Mayawati’s party had come out with famous slogans of “Brahman shankh bajayega, haathi aage jaayega (the Brahmin will blow the conch and the elephant will march forward)” and “Hanthi Nahin Ganesh Hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh Hai.

Satish Chandra Mishra, the right hand of Mayawati organised many Brahmin Dalit Bhaichaara Sammelans, something that worked well in 2007, bringing Mayawati to power but it fizzled out by 2012 when the Brahmins shifted to SP. However, in the next two-three years, they got disenchanted with SP as well and by 2014 the Brahmins shifted lock stock and barrel to BJP.

With the traditional Thakur-Brahmin rivalry once again coming to fore after BJP and Yogi Adityanath’s ascension to power in 2017, all the three Opposition parties are aggressively wooing back the Brahmins. One reason is the belief that Brahmins influence votes much beyond their numerical strength of nine per cent.

BJP’s most prominent Brahmin face Atal Bihari Vajpayee is no more, ageing Murali Manohar Joshi is on the margins, Vajpayee’ protégé Kalraj Mishra is now Rajasthan Governor and as such out of state politics while in Eastern UP the Brahmin leaders of BJP do not have quite a liking for CM Yogi. Dinesh Sharma, a Brahmin, is, however, one of two Deputy Chief Ministers in UP.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Narendra Kashyap, who moved to the BJP from BSP in 2016, says the possibility of a Brahmin Muslim Dalit (BMD) combination for which both Congress and BSP are trying hard, is not in sight. “BSP’s organisation has got weakened and there are a substantial breach in its Dalit base while Congress is not a force in state politics for three decades now. Post Modi-Yogi rise, the possibility of Brahmins and Muslim alignment is very bleak especially in UP.”

Nevertheless, Brahmins which were on the margins of politics of the key Hindi state are once again a much sought after community. While Congress’ young Brahmin leader Jitin Prasada is regularly raising issues of the negligence of the community under Brahmin Chetna Samvad programme under the Brahmin Chetna Manch. SP promised to build a 108 feet high idol of Lord Parshuram, a Hindu Brahmin saint while BSP said it will name hospitals after him besides making a taller statue.