A dejected Smriti Irani was shown the door as far as HRD ministry is concerned as she will now be heading the comparatively lesser sought after Textile Ministry. This was the obvious headline of the cabinet reshuffle that happened on 5th July 2016. In an act where the Narendra Modi led government made one of its biggest political moves to include 19 new faces in the cabinet, there were more than one headline to read and on close examination the reshuffle does provide subtle hints regarding the direction that BJP aims to follow in the upcoming years.
It comes as no surprise that the reshuffle is BJP heavy, with 17 of the 19 new ministers coming from the BJP camp. The other two are from NDA allies: Anupriya Singh Patel of Apna Dal and Ramdas Athawale of RPI. Surprisingly, Shiv Sena has not been on BJP’s favorite list this time.
Even a political novice will tell you that UP is the gateway to Indian Politics and BJP being an old wily old fox for sure has made it a point to make the cabinet very UP heavy. There are three each new faces from UP and Gujarat, one from Uttarakhand and the rest from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka and Assam.
Going as per BJP President Amit Shah’s comments stating that they believe Akhilesh Yadav spearheaded Samajvadi Party to be their main threat. But the writing is seldom very clear on the wall especially when it comes to nationwide politics. There is no doubt that BJP is not taking BSP for granted especially with the UP election due to start in early 2017. BJP has played the Dalit card in its cabinet reshuffle and has included five candidates from Dalit communities, three candidates from Scheduled Tribes and two candidates from OBC communities.
The 20% Dalit votes which forms the crux of BSP’s vote bank is now expected to be divided and thus draw some of BSP’s votes towards BJP. The social engineering practice adopted by BJP will be crucial to reach the magic figure of 265 out of 403 that it has set for itself in assembly seats in UP.
Consider for example, Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel who has been included in the cabinet. Her OBC roots and her strong Pro-Modi views will go a long way in weeding out Bihar’s CM Nitish Kumar efforts to capture the vote from the Mirzapur belt. She has been quoted saying to the sources
“In these two years, both parties have worked together with harmony, affection and admiration. And if we continue to work in this manner then we will definitely be successful in our mission to rid Uttar Pradesh from the grasp of the SP and BSP. I would like to congratulate both parties on this occasion. I hope will be able to meet our goal by 2017″
The MP Krishna Raj who won his seat from Shahjahanpur is also significant ahead of the UP polls as the Scheduled Caste community forms a sizable chunk of the electorate. Hailing from Pasi community, she is expected to gather the Dalit vote bank to her call. She belongs to the Rohilkhand region of the state and is expected to be the poster-girl for BJP among the Pasi (Dalit) community.
BJP however has not gone all guns blazing and has played it safe by including two Brahmin leaders who could garner to the upper vote bank. MP Mahendra Nath Pandey, a prominent Brahmin leader from eastern UP thus as expected finds his mention it the list of new faces added to the cabinet.
In totality, it seems that BJP has given the devil its due share by making sure UP now has 16 ministers in the Cabinet, the maximum from any state, in an apparent bid to keep the Dalit and OBC vote-bank content.
While the BSP party has been relatively mum to highlight the social engineering done by BJP to eat into its votes, it has however come forward to criticize the move. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary has said that
“If the BJP feels that by shuffling a few faces it can mislead the people, then it is deluding itself. The people want accountability of the promises made to them in the Lok Sabha Elections. The BJP has spent its two years in Jumlabaazi”
As a neutral observer it does seem like that the move by BJP is a calculated one and it will for sure will spice up the upcoming election in the Hindi Mainland that is Uttar Pradesh. It remains to be seen if the Dalit vote bank changes its loyalty from BSP to BJP or it chooses to remain with it. Whatever, it may decide it is expected to be one hell of a political season. But as for now, it is for BSP to play the second fiddle to BJP.
Image Credits: DNA India