Patna,(BiharTimes): The news is that Bhupendra Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, has been appointed as the Bihar incharge of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The bigger news, according to party sources, is that neither Sushil Kumar Modi nor Nand Kishore Yadav, the two senior most hands-on leaders of the party in the state, were not even aware of his appointment till they received Amit Shah’s notification on October 21 evening––not to speak of being consulted. This is the way Narendra Modi-Amit Shah team is working.
Needless to say the choice of a Yadav has much to do with the saffron party’s preference to woo the largest caste of the state. Throughout the Lok Sabha election campaign Narendra Modi has been a bit soft towards Lalu Yadav and used several ancient religious and mythical references to attract Yadavs.
Though the BJP believes in inclusive politics, yet castes do play an important role in selection of candidates and appointment for various posts. The party’s success in winning over Ram Kripal Yadav just ahead of the election was interpreted as a big achievement.
But the state party chief, Mangal Pandey, and the Sushil Modi try to downplay the caste angle.
The state party chief said Bhupendra Yadav, 45, has been a very successful organization man. It is a coincidence that he bears the Yadav surname. But, he conceded that the BJP would surely benefit from the symbolism in the 2015 Assembly election.
SuMo also said Bhupendra Yadav’s organisational skills will benefit the party. His surname is an additional gain.
The BJP has Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav, Nand Kishore Yadav and Ram Kripal Yadav––the last two of them from Patna proper. So the saffron party is still struggling to woo a mass leader from outside the state capital, especially one having a good influence in the rural hinterland of the state.
Yadavs are largely a ruralized caste and political observers are of the view that the appointment of man like Bhupendra Yadav, a Supreme Court lawyer, may not yield the desired result.
Some arm-chair journalists and analysts are of the view that the BJP succeeded in wooing a good majority of Yadavs in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. But a CSDS study says something else.
According to its data 64 per cent Yadavs voted for the RJD-Congress alliance against only 18 per cent for the BJP. Incidentally, 64 per cent Muslims too voted for the RJD-Congress combine.
In Oct-Nov 2005 Assembly election too 64 per cent Yadavs voted for the RJD and 65 per cent in 2009 Lok Sabhapoll. So Lalu Prasad still managed to get a big chunk of Yadav voters in spite of a big effort by the BJP.
Incidentally, the BJP’s performance was best in Bihar in any Lok Sabha election when its incharge of the state was Dharmendra Pradhan, originally from Odisha. He has been replaced as he is now the minister of state (independent charge), petroleum and natural gas in the Narendra Modi cabinet.
Analysts are of the view that it would be too early to say that Bhupendra’s appointment would bring about any big change in the poll prospect of the saffron party. The party’s popularity is already at its peak in the state. Hoping something better than this would be expecting too much.