Has Bhupendra Yadav been sidelined within BJP ?
No Yadav in party’s star campaigners list for UP
Pankaj Patrakar
New Delhi, Jan. 19 (Delhi Crown): Within the BJP ranks late BJP leader Arun Jaitley was fondly referred to as “lucky General Secretary”, meaning to which ever state he was sent as In-charge/General Secretary ahead of Assembly elections, he ensured his party’s thumping victory.
Jaitley was also known for grooming Bhupendra Yadav, a lawyer by profession who is now Union Labour Minister. And, soon Yadav rose in the ranks of the BJP.
During Jaitley’s lifetime and after his demise, Yadav became Amit Shah’s Man Friday and was often seen in TV frames standing next to him.
Till recently Labour Minister Bhupendra was being given electioneering/strategising roles in key states going to polls, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, besides a few others.
Lately Yadav was made the Incharge of Manipur, where he more or less seems unfit, given the role he has played in the Hindi belt all these years, particularly in winning over and roping in his community for the party, both in terms of strengthening the Sangathan and vote-share.
Interestingly he was hasn’t been assigned any role in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls in seven different phases beginning February 10. Neither has he been included in the list of star-campaigners for UP announced on Wednesday.
There is a sizeable vote bank of Yadavs in UP, and keeping Bhupendra out of the loop raises many a questions –
Has he been sidelined within the party ? Or, his usefulness has faded away for the party ?, Or, he has no influence among his community in Uttar Pradesh ? Or, it’s strategic on the part of the BJP amid intra-party bickering and quarrels among different camps ? Or, the party has arrived at a foregone conclusion that Yadavs this time are going with ex-CM Akhilesh ?
Meanwhile, the BJP on Wednesday announced its alliance with smaller political parties like Apna Dal and Nishad Party for the ensuing Uttar Pradesh Assembly Poll.