The BJP’s search for a suitable candidate for the state president’s post in Uttar Pradesh ended on Friday with BJP MP Keshav Maurya being named as the new president.
All the contenders for the post — from Union ministers Manoj Sinha and Ram Shankar Katheria to Lucknow mayor Dinesh Sharma and senior MLA Dharampal Singh — were struck off the list in favour of Mr Maurya, who is the party MP from Phulpur.
Mr Maurya, 46, is an OBC and is also known as a Hindu hardliner with a long stint in the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. He also sold tea in his childhood.
His appointment clearly indicates that the BJP is all set to play an aggressive Hindu card in the UP Assembly elections.
Mr Maurya’s aggressive style of politics will add fuel to fire during the state Assembly elections and help in polarisation of votes on communal lines.
Mr Maurya was elected for the first time to the UP Assembly from Sirathu in Kaushambi in 2012 and then won the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Phulpur. The BJP high command, this time, was said to be keen to appoint a backward or dalit as state president but also wanted the leader to be acceptable to upper castes as well.
However, as far as acceptability among the cadres is concerned, Mr Maurya has never been involved in the party’s organisational work and is not very well acquainted with the party cadres across the state. He faced restive crowds during his visit to Ballia in January this year and his convoy was attacked by BJP workers. Twelve party workers were later expelled from the party.
The biggest challenge that he will face in his new assignment is to reach out to party cadres and boost their morale which sunk rather low after the recent panchayat elections and the MLC elections when the BJP faced a dismal defeat.
His acceptability among upper castes is also doubtful since he is known to be a pro-OBC leader in his constituency.
Compared to others in the race, he can also be termed as a political green horn, known more for his aggressive behaviour and criminal background — he has been named as an accused in the murder of Mohammed Ghaus in Allahabad in 2011 — than for his political skills.
Outgoing state president Laxmikant Bajpai’s tenure had ended in November last year but he was asked to continue because the party had not been able to find a suitable alternative.
