While the names of BJP UP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, Union ministers Manoj Sinha, Santosh Gangwar, and state unit general secretary Swatantra Dev are still doing the rounds as probable CM, a few more have been added to the list. The appointment of a deputy CM to maintain the caste balance is also being studied.
Indianmandarins has learnt that Maharajpur MLA 56-year-old Satish Mahana, a veteran party leader from the Khatri community who has won seven times, is also one of the front-runners for the post of CM. He was called to Delhi on March 11 and has met central leaders after the poll results, sources said. Shahjahanpur MLA Suresh Khanna, 63, who won his eighth Vidhan sabha polls, is also in the race.
Apart from being old party hands who won polls even when the BJP was going through a weak phase, the two belong to a community that is numerically non-dominant.
As examples of a few states show, NaMo and Amit Shah have shown their inclination to appoint those leaders as chief ministers who do not belong to a caste that is present in a sizable number. In Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, a Brahmin was chosen as CM like in Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, a Khatri, was preferred over Jats; and in Jharkhand, Raghubar Das was made the chief minister.
Both Mahana and Khanna may be in the reckoning for Vidhan Sabha Speaker's post as well due to their experience.
It's reasoned that no leader who belongs to a caste having sizable numbers is likely to be CM. An OBC leader may not make it to the CM post as the state unit chief is also from the backward caste, unless Maurya himself is made CM or minister and replaced by an upper caste leader as state unit chief.
In the process of balancing the new UP cabinet, the NaMo-Shah team may like to avoid the kind of situation that emerged following the promotion of Kalyan Singh as UP CM in the nineties. In those years, Kalyan Singh, who represents a dominant backward caste Lodh, emerged as a strong mass leader who could challenge Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in later years. The party is not likely to repeat that mistake.
(By M K Shukla & Rakesh Ranjan)
UP CM may be a surprise candidate
By IndianMandarins - 2017-03-15 11:12:27
While the names of BJP UP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, Union ministers Manoj Sinha, Santosh Gangwar, and state unit general secretary Swatantra Dev are still doing the rounds as probable CM, a few more have been added to the list. The appointment of a deputy CM to maintain the caste balance is also being studied.
Indianmandarins has learnt that Maharajpur MLA 56-year-old Satish Mahana, a veteran party leader from the Khatri community who has won seven times, is also one of the front-runners for the post of CM. He was called to Delhi on March 11 and has met central leaders after the poll results, sources said. Shahjahanpur MLA Suresh Khanna, 63, who won his eighth Vidhan sabha polls, is also in the race.
Apart from being old party hands who won polls even when the BJP was going through a weak phase, the two belong to a community that is numerically non-dominant.
As examples of a few states show, NaMo and Amit Shah have shown their inclination to appoint those leaders as chief ministers who do not belong to a caste that is present in a sizable number. In Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, a Brahmin was chosen as CM like in Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, a Khatri, was preferred over Jats; and in Jharkhand, Raghubar Das was made the chief minister.
Both Mahana and Khanna may be in the reckoning for Vidhan Sabha Speaker's post as well due to their experience.
It's reasoned that no leader who belongs to a caste having sizable numbers is likely to be CM. An OBC leader may not make it to the CM post as the state unit chief is also from the backward caste, unless Maurya himself is made CM or minister and replaced by an upper caste leader as state unit chief.
In the process of balancing the new UP cabinet, the NaMo-Shah team may like to avoid the kind of situation that emerged following the promotion of Kalyan Singh as UP CM in the nineties. In those years, Kalyan Singh, who represents a dominant backward caste Lodh, emerged as a strong mass leader who could challenge Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in later years. The party is not likely to repeat that mistake.
(By M K Shukla & Rakesh Ranjan)
