The Uttar Pradesh government expanded its Cabinet on Tuesday with the induction of four new ministers. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MLA Anil Kumar and BJP leaders Dara Singh and Sunil Kumar Sharma took oath in the first expansion of the second term of the Yogi Adityanath government.
News18 takes a look at the new inductees:
Om Prakash Rajbhar, SBSP chief
Rajbhar is a former cabinet minister in the Uttar Pradesh government and an MLA from the Zahoorabad constituency in UP’s Ghazipur district. On July 16 last year, he announced his return to the National Democratic Alliance.
UP’s political analysts labelled the move a boost to BJP’s prospects in east UP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, while some called it a major dent to the Opposition that is yet to come up with a fool-proof plan to combat BJP in the upcoming polls.
Rajbhar has represented the Zahoorabad constituency since 2017. On March 19, 2017, he became a cabinet minister in the Yogi government as the minister of the Department of Backward Classes Welfare and the Department of Disabled People Development. However, on May 20, 2019, he was sacked due to anti-alliance activities. In the 2022 state assembly elections, Rajbhar’s party formed an alliance with Samajwadi Party. The two contested on 17 seats in UP and won six.
Sunil Kumar Sharma
Sharma is a BJP MLA from Sahibabad in UP’s Ghaziabad district who actively participated in the Ram Temple movement.
A part of the party for almost three decades, Sharma is said to be one of the most active functionaries who built his political career from scratch. Party insiders say his induction is aimed at canvassing Brahmin votes, just like the party’s recent declaration of Mahesh Sharma as MP candidate from Gautam Budh Nagar.
In the 2022 assembly elections, Sharma was given a ticket for the fourth consecutive time. He secured his first win in 2007 when he contested from Ghaziabad assembly seat but lost to Amarpal Sharma in 2012 when he contested from Sahibabad assembly seat. He won the Sahibabad assembly seat in 2017 and yet again in 2022.
Anil Kumar
MLA Anil Kumar represents Purqazi constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of RLD. Before the elections, Kumar was elected MLA for the third time by contesting on the RLD symbol in 2022. Kumar became MLA for the first time in 2007 by securing 35,417 votes on an RLD ticket from Charthawal reserved seat. He defeated the then SP leader Uma Kiran.
After delimitation in 2012, Purqazi became a reserved seat. Kumar was elected MLA from here for the second time in 2012 on a BSP ticket. However, he had to face defeat in the 2017 elections. In 2022, he reached the assembly by winning on the RLD symbol and defeating sitting BJP MLA Pramod Ootwal.
Dara Singh Chauhan
Chauhan, who was elected MLA from Ghosi on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 2022, switched sides to join BJP. The party then fielded Chauhan, an OBC leader, from Ghosi in the by-election. Though BJP pushed all its heavyweights to carry out rallies and ‘sabhas’ in favour of Chauhan, he lost to Sudhakar Singh by over 42,000 votes. Singh garnered 57.2 per cent votes polled against Chauhan’s 37.5 per cent votes.
Chauhan is known for his turncoat image and, political analysts say, it was this reason which led to his defeat in Ghosi. Chauhan, who entered politics with BSP in 1996, switched to SP in 2000, and returned to BSP in 2009. After winning from Ghosi in 2009, he joined BJP. Just before the 2022 assembly elections, Chauhan left BJP and joined SP and in July 2023, he once again resigned from the assembly and joined BJP.
Political analysts termed the expansion a strategic move. “It was purely a balancing act aimed at improving the caste chemistry ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in order to woo voters,” a political analyst pointed out.
Of the four new faces, two each are from the UP east and UP west regions. The Yogi government now has representation of all four allies — Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Apna Dal (S), Nishad Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal — in the ministry. BJP’s Sunil Kumar Sharma, the lone upper caste in the expansion, has been an old RSS hand who had won the 2022 UP polls with a record margin of 2.14 lakh votes from Ghaziabad’s Sahibabad constituency; a feat he achieved the second time. His entry means that Yogi 2.0 now has eight Brahmin ministers and 22 upper caste faces.
Other than this, Dara Singh Chauhan, who got the nod despite an embarrassing loss in the Ghosi bypoll in September 2023 — possibly due to his Nonia OBC sub-caste — and BJP ally Rajbhar are the two OBC faces, taking the total OBC strength of the Cabinet to 22. Anil Kumar is the 10th Dalit face of the Yogi ministry.
Comments
0 comment