Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its new team in UP on June 25. Keeping in mind the assembly elections to be held in the year 2027 and the Lok Sabha elections to be held in the year 2029, the central and state leadership have officially announced their new organizational team by releasing the list of names of 46 office bearers. After the release of the list, the most talked about among the newly appointed officials of BJP is SP’s rebel MLA Pooja Pal.
BJP has given Pooja Pal the post of Vice President in the party. This means that Pooja Pal has now formally entered BJP. Not only this, during the cabinet expansion, Pal was said to be in the race to join Yogi Adityanath’s Council of Ministers, but it is said that she missed out at the last moment.
With Pooja Pal getting entry in the new state team of BJP, as well as the state presidents of SP and BSP also being from this community, one thing has become clear that this community has now become an important electoral equation in the politics of UP. BJP has played a big bet on this society which is called social engineering of BSP and SP by giving entry to Pooja Pal.
Headlines
- During the changing politics of UP, Pal community became an important electoral equation.
- Pal community can play a decisive role in the victory or defeat of about two dozen seats.
- Now elections in UP have started revolving around small castes instead of big castes.
- After SP-BSP, now BJP has also played its bet on Pal community.
Importance of non-Yadav backward classes increased in UP politics
At present, the importance of non-Yadav backward classes is increasing very rapidly in the politics of UP. This includes Kurmi, Maurya-Kushwaha, Lodh community, Mallah-Nishad, Lonia-Chauhan, Rajbhar community, Lohar and Kumhar castes along with Pal-Gadariya-Baghel. Let us tell you that in UP, Pal, Gadaria, Baghel and Dhangar communities are widely seen as a single social group.
What is the population of Pal community in Uttar Pradesh?
According to the report of the Social Justice Committee constituted during the then Rajnath Singh government in 2001, the population of Shepherd-Pal-Baghel community in UP was about 4.43 percent. If the current population of the state is considered to be 25 crores, then according to this the population of Pal group of castes comes to around 1 crore ten lakhs. Although this is an estimate, there is no official census data. In fact, the last comprehensive caste-wise census in India was not conducted until 1931.
Pal community can play a decisive role in elections
According to the Social Justice Report of 2001, the estimated Kurmi population in the state is 7.46%, Kachhi-Kushwaha-Shakya-Maurya-Saini-Mali group is 6.69% and Yadav population is 19.4%. However, many surveys also say that the population of Yadavs in the state is 9 to 11 percent instead of 19.4 percent. Nevertheless, the population of Pal community may not be so large in terms of numbers, but their decisive presence in many areas can have an impact on the election results.
Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Mahoba, Hamirpur of Bundelkhand are considered to be a significant influence of Pal community. They have good presence in districts like Kannauj, Etawah, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Hardoi of Central and Western UP. He has a good influence in Lucknow, Barabanki and Ayodhya, Gonda in Awadh region. His role is also decisive in Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Kaushambi of Purvanchal.
Political experts believe that Pal Samaj can influence the election results on more than two dozen seats in the state. Their importance will increase in seats where the competition will be very tough. Here, just one to two percent vote share here and there can change the difference between victory and defeat. This is the reason why after BSP and SP, BJP has gambled on Pal community.
SP and BSP have already played their bet on Pal community
Samajwadi Party has made Shyam Lal Pal as its state president to win over this vote bank in its favor. By making Shyam Lal Pal the state president, the party has tried to give the message that SP is not just a party of Yadavs but is also giving a share in the leadership to non-Yadav backward classes.
Similarly, BSP also wanted to give the message that it is not only a party of Dalits, but it is also giving a share in the leadership to the backward and extremely backward classes. Due to this, Vishwanath Pal was appointed to the post of state president. Through this, along with Mayawati’s Dalit vote bank, the extremely backward castes should also be reunited with BSP, which had gone to BJP in the last elections.
Now BJP tried to woo Pal community
BJP did not have any special face to support the Pal community in UP politics. But now an attempt was made to fill this vacant place by making Pooja Pal the state vice president of the party and Prakash Pal the backward front president. BJP wants to worship Pal community through Pooja Pal. She also wants to corner the Samajwadi Party on the issues of women and crime.
This is the reason when Pooja Pal openly praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on public platforms after the murder of mafia Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf. Then when Samajwadi Party expelled her on the charges of indiscipline, BJP did not shy away from standing with Pooja Pal. During this period, Pooja Pal continuously attacked the leadership of Samajwadi Party, for which she now got the reward.
Now not big but small castes will change the game of elections
Political analysts say that the politics of Uttar Pradesh has completely changed. Now it does not revolve only around the big castes. The combined vote bank of backward castes with small and medium population also has the potential to take a party from high to high. This is the reason why castes like Pal Samaj in the state have now become not just voters but groups that decide the equations of power and parties are busy wooing them.
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