UP’s ‘historic’ representation a signal for BJP’s Mission 2017

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh’s representation in the union council of ministers probably rose to the highest ever at 13 with the induction of four more faces from the state into the Modi government on Sunday. The lion’s share for the state reflects its political importance for the BJP in view of the 2017 state assembly polls.

The four new faces from the state are Ram Shankar Katheria, a scheduled caste leader (Agra), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a backward caste representative (Fatehpur), Mahesh Sharma, a Brahmin (Noida) and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a Muslim (Rampur).

Technically, UP’s total representation will go up to 14 once newly appointed defence minister Manohar Parrikar is elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. Going by the numbers at the disposal of the BJP, his victory is a foregone conclusion.

Before the cabinet expansion on Sunday, UP had nine ministers, including the PM, at the centre.

Apart from Modi, who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, the other ministers from the state were Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Kalraj Mishra (Deoria), Uma Bharti (Jhansi), VK Singh (Ghaziabad), Maneka Gandhi (Pilibhit), Santosh Gangwar (Bareilly), Sanjiv Baliyan (Muzaffarnagar) and Manoj Sinha (Ghazipur).

Naqvi is the Modi government’s second Muslim minister — Najma Heptullah being the first. Thus, UP can also claim to have representation from all the regions and classes.

Uttar Pradesh is believed to have never had such a huge representation, not even when the Congress won all the 85 seats from UP in the Lok Sabha polls held after death of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi led the new government.

“I do not remember UP having so many ministers as it has today under the Modi government,” recalled a veteran Congress leader.

“It is historic moment for UP which has not only the biggestever representation in the government at the centre but will also have its MPs as PM, home minister and defence minister,” BJP state president Laxmikant Bajpai said.

Many, however, see a method in the Narendra Modi government giving such important to UP where the BJP won 71 Lok Sabha seats.

“Uttar Pradesh is obviously the most important state for the BJP. The party is going to pull out all the stops to win the state in the 2017 assembly polls,” said a senior Samajwadi Party leader who apprehended that the BJP could even go to the extent of agreeing to the division of UP for electoral gain.