In the politics of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party has played the Brahmin card after being backward, Dalit and minority. The party has made veteran leader and big Brahmin face Mata Prasad Pandey the new leader of opposition. Till now, Pandey will be seen holding the chair on which party president Akhilesh Yadav was handling the responsibility in the UP Assembly. Earlier it was believed that SP could try to further strengthen its support base by giving this important post to a Dalit or backward person. However, everyone is surprised by the new bet.
This Brahmin card of Akhilesh is also being linked to the social engineering of BSP chief Mayawati. At one time BSP had also brought Satish Mishra into the party to woo the Brahmins. BSP also benefited from this and a major vote bank of Brahmins shifted towards the party. It is believed that now SP’s eyes are also fixed on that vote bank of Mayawati.
BSP chief Mayawati took a jibe at Akhilesh Yadav for making Pandey the leader of the opposition and said, the SP chief certainly took their votes in the Lok Sabha general elections especially by misleading the PDA here under the guise of saving the Constitution, but the leader of the opposition in the UP Assembly. The neglect that was done while making them is also a matter to think about. Whereas in SP there is no place for PDA except one particular caste. Certainly not the Brahmin community, because the oppression and neglect they have faced under the SP and BJP governments is not hidden from anyone. In fact, their development and rise happened only under the BSP government. Therefore, these people must be careful.
Mayawati’s statement is telling that in the coming days, BSP can also make a big move and make a new strategy to tap its traditional vote bank.
Why discuss Satish Mishra?
Satish Mishra is a well-known Supreme Court lawyer. In the year 2004, Satish Mishra entered BSP on the basis of social engineering formula of BSP supremo Mayawati. He emerged as the Brahmin face of the party. Mishra’s entry was important from a strategic point of view. Mishra took forward the social engineering of BSP, which increased support among different castes. This helped BSP achieve a big victory in the 2007 assembly elections. Mishra also established a balance within the party, which increased unity between Brahmins and Dalits. Even in the elections held after that, the party kept social engineering simple through Satish Mishra. It is said that Mishra also played an important role in the electoral agreement between SP and BSP for the 2019 general elections. In the 2022 assembly elections in UP, he relaunched BSP’s ‘Brahmin Sammelan’ as ‘Prabuddha Sammelan’.
However, this did not bring much benefit to BSP in the state and the party could win only one seat. A big vote bank of BSP shifted to BJP. Later, a change was seen in the strategy of BSP and the party has now started trying to bring back its original voters (Dalits and Muslims). Mayawati first expelled former cabinet minister Nakul Dubey from the party. After that another Brahmin leader Anil Pandey was also dismissed. Nakul Dubey is considered close to Satish Mishra. Even in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BSP’s social engineering proved to be a complete failure. Even Dalit voters were seen distancing themselves from the party.
Is SP preparing to repeat the old record?
SP has got a huge advantage in the 2024 general elections. It is being said that SP and India Block have directly benefited from public anger. In such a situation, SP also wants that this anger of the people should be converted into votes and the government should be formed by winning the 2027 assembly elections. Recently, assembly by-elections are also to be held on 10 seats. SP has already expanded its traditional MY (Muslim-Yadav) equation. Its PDA formula has also given an edge. Now there is hope from a new bet of social engineering
In fact, in the 2012 assembly elections, Samajwadi Party single-handedly won 224 seats and it was considered a miracle of social engineering. At that time, the reins of SP were in the hands of Mulayam Singh Yadav and under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, a cycle yatra was taken out in the entire state. Mulayam Singh Yadav made Akhilesh the Chief Minister. Akhilesh left no stone unturned to woo the Brahmins. Since Brahmin Voort had earlier gone with BSP in 2007 and Mayawati had formed the government with full majority. But allegedly when Brahmins were neglected during the BSP rule, this class got angry and joined SP. Akhilesh would now like to try his same old formula in the 2027 elections also. In the elections of 2017 and 2022, Brahmin and upper caste communities have been seen in BJP’s favor.
SP’s new equations regarding general class?
Has this Brahmin card of SP been played keeping in mind the 2027 assembly elections? SP MLA Ravidas Mehrotra says that PDA means backward, Dalit and A has two meanings – minority and forward. Mata Prasad Pandey has been made Leader of Opposition on the basis of experience. We will work to raise public issues from the streets to the House. Samajwadi Party has made it almost clear that along with its MY equation, the party is now making new equations regarding OBC, Dalit and general class, which can prove to be a big challenge for BJP and BSP. According to political experts, Akhilesh is following the theory that almost the majority of votes from the general category, including Brahmins, are unhappy with the BJP and it cannot be ruled out that the party will get significant benefits by working harder on this. For this, SP’s focus is now on Muslim, Yadav, OBC, Dalit and Brahmin classes.
Did PDA factor give benefit to SP?
In fact, before the general elections, SP had given the slogan of PDA and had achieved a tremendous lead. Maximum 37 Lok Sabha seats were won in UP. SP got 33.80 percent vote share. Political experts say that this time SP has not only got the benefit of MY factor, the party has also made a dent in the Dalit-backward vote bank of BSP-BJP. The party’s sights are now even further than that. This is the reason why Akhilesh is now trying to bring the Brahmin community into his fold. Experts say that this move of Akhilesh can be called a masterstroke, but this risk is also not less.
Was the common class moving away from SP?
Since 2023, Akhilesh has been seen continuously moving forward taking backward, Dalit and minorities along with him. The image of the party was also being built around backward, Dalit, Yadav and Muslims. Due to Akhilesh’s outspokenness, the message was also being sent that SP is keeping distance from the leaders. Big Brahmin faces like Manoj Pandey, who was the Chief Whip in the Assembly, adopted a rebellious stance during the general elections. Manoj Pandey is MLA from Unchahar seat of Rae Bareli. However, now by betting afresh on the Brahmin face, the party has sparked new discussions. If SP’s Brahmin card works then the assembly fight in 2027 could be interesting.
What is the caste equation of UP?
If we look at the caste equation of UP, the biggest vote bank is the backward class. There are 18 percent upper castes in the state, of which more than 10 percent are Brahmins. The number of backward classes is 40 percent, which includes Yadav 10 percent, Kurmi Sethwar 8 percent, Mallah 5 percent, Lodh 3 percent, Jat 3 percent, Vishwakarma 2 percent, Gurjar 2 percent and other backward castes 7 percent. Apart from this, Scheduled Caste population in the state is 22 percent and Muslim population is 18 percent. Brahmin voters play an important role in the politics of UP. Brahmin voters here have traditionally supported BJP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2017 assembly elections, BJP had secured 72% and 80% Brahmin votes respectively. Due to the effective support base of Brahmin voters, all major political parties try to woo them in their favor. Brahmin voters are an important vote bank for BJP and they play an important role in the party’s election strategy.
In the 2022 assembly elections, SP had adopted a special strategy to attract Brahmin voters. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had organized ‘Brahmin Conference’ in the state. The idol of Lord Parshuram was also inaugurated. SP had focused on the Gurjar, Ahir, Jatav and Brahmin equation in its election campaign. The party believed that through this equation it could gain the support of Other Backward Classes (OBC), Dalits, and Brahmin communities. However, the results disappointed the party.
Who is Mata Prasad Pandey?
Mata Prasad Pandey is 81 years old. He is the MLA from Etwa seat of Siddharthnagar district. Has been Assembly Speaker twice. Mulayam Singh has also been a minister twice in the Yadav government. Working on the ground since the inception of the party. Pandey contested his first assembly election in 1980 from the Janata Party and won. Contested elections on SP ticket in 2002, 2007 and 2012 and reached the assembly. He had to face defeat in the 2017 assembly elections. Won once again in 2022. Pandey remained the Health Minister in 1991 and Labor and Employment Minister in 2003. The party has tried to take its strategy ahead of Muslims and Yadavs by giving an important post to Pandey. Apart from this, Akhilesh has made MLA from Amroha seat Mehboob Ali as the president, MLA from Moradabad district Kamal Akhtar as the chief whip and MLA from Pratapgarh Rakesh Kumar alias RK Verma as the deputy whip.
Recently, Akhilesh Yadav has won the election from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat, after which he has resigned from Karhal Assembly seat. Akhilesh was handling the responsibility of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.
What did Mata Prasad Pandey say?
Assembly session is also starting in UP from today. Talking to Aaj Tak, new leader of opposition Mata Prasad Pandey said, there is an outcry for electricity. Also the condition of law and order is bad. The police are arresting the police. This means corruption is at its peak. Corruption is also an issue. There is a problem of farmers. There is a problem of floods and unemployment. When there is a Speaker, both the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition work together. We have experience with this. What should the Leader of the Opposition do, what is his responsibility? Happiness has also been seen among SP MLAs with the appointment of Pandey. MLA Ashu Malik says that he has a long experience. Have knowledge of the rules. Has also been the Assembly Speaker. We have full hope that the public issues on which the entire opposition is united will be raised prominently.
