As OP Rajbhar joins NDA, BJP reaches out to OBCs, Dalits with an eye on Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi: The entry of OBC leader Om Prakash Rajbhar into the BJP fold underlines the ruling party’s relentless efforts to increase its presence among the marginalized castes in the Hindi heartland, at a time when the opposition has taken over issues including the OBC census. before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The ruling party is retaliating sharply, with the main opposition Congress joining several regional parties in pushing for the caste census as part of a wider effort to increase OBC reservations and calling the BJP detrimental to their interests.

The central government has so far kept mum on the demand for a census of the Other Backward Classes, which is the largest voting group and since 2014 has shown a growing preference for the ruling party under Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the polling booths.

Many leaders representing smaller parties and mostly belonging to a particular backward or Dalit caste have crossed over in recent months, mostly from the opposition, to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, as the ruling party consolidated a is where it appears to be weak. Sometimes.

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In Uttar Pradesh, which has been a BJP bastion since 2014, Rajbhar joins OBC leaders such as Sanjay Nishad, who has influence among boatmen and fishermen communities, and Union minister Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (Sonilal), a party whose There is support mostly among the backward Kurmis. ,

Mister @oprajbhar G became an industrialist in Delhi and he met Prime Minister Mr. @Narendra Modi A decision was taken in the NDA coalition headed by G. I welcome him to the NDA family.

With the arrival of Rajbhar ji, the protest site in Uttar Pradesh and under the leadership of Modi ji… pic.twitter.com/uLnbgJedbF– Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 16 July 2023

While Nishad had aligned his ‘Nishad’ party with the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Patel has been an ally of the BJP since 2014.

In neighboring Bihar, Kushwaha leader Upendra Kushwaha and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose Manjhi community is part of the Dalits, have quit the RJD-JD(U)-Congress-Left alliance.

Manjhi has already joined the NDA while Kushwaha has also held several meetings with senior BJP leaders. The BJP is also making a determined effort to bring Chirag Paswan back into its fold, whose Lok Janshakti Party (R) enjoys the support of the Paswans, the largest Dalit community in Bihar.

While the BJP has been a dominant political force in UP ever since Modi led the party to a majority in the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2014, the Samajwadi Party has managed to make inroads into the ‘Purvanchal’ region by forging an alliance with Rajbhar and a rival faction doing. Apna Dal’s in the 2022 assembly elections.

Some of the BJP’s OBC leaders, including Dara Singh Chouhan, had joined the SP to increase its outreach to non-Yadav backward castes, and Chouhan’s decision to quit as an MLA and possibly return to his former party is another blow to the disaffected opposition. critical stage.

In western UP, the SP-RLD alliance was somewhat successful in splitting the Jat vote in 2022 and speculation that the BJP poaching Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Singh could hamper the party’s target of winning all 80 Lok Sabha seats. Underlines the seriousness. Assembly seats in the state.

The BJP had won 62 seats in 2019 while its ally Apna Dal won two seats. The opposition alliance in Bihar seems stronger than in Uttar Pradesh.

However, BJP leaders believe that by courting leaders of smaller parties belonging to various backward and Dalit castes, they can make the NDA more socially visible than its two main rivals, the RJD led by Lalu Prasad Yadav. Representatives from can present in the form of coalition. and the JD(U) led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The same opposition alliance had inflicted a crushing defeat on the BJP-led faction in the 2015 assembly elections.

While the Yadavs, the most populous and dominant backward caste, have been strong supporters of the SP in UP and the RJD in Bihar, especially in the assembly elections, the BJP has been able – by rallying dozens of smaller backward castes – to garner a sizeable lead OBC vote bank especially in Uttar Pradesh.

Political experts believe that buoyed by the Congress victory in Karnataka, where OBC leader Siddaramaiah has taken over as chief minister, the main opposition party and its allies will intensify their campaign among the marginalized sections on the basis of the caste census demand. and the promise of increased welfare measures.

The BJP is committed to maintaining and further expanding its reach among these communities, with the ruling party expected to intensify its outreach to them as the campaign for the national elections intensifies.

The BJP has launched a nationwide campaign to win a majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha for the third time under Modi’s leadership.