The State of Uttar Pradesh, known for its backward caste politics, has taken a liking for Brahmins and now this upper caste has emerged as a fulcrum of political power in this cow belt. With Narendra Modi wave sweeping across Uttar Pradesh, the Brahmins have this time decided to throw their weight behind Bharatiya Janata Party making other political parties shaky.
The so-called rift between Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi over Varanasi parliamentary seat has given the Congress an opportunity to sow the seeds of suspicion in the minds of Brahmins. It has been projected by Congress as a divide between backward-Thakur (read Modi and Rajnath) against Joshi and Kalraj Mishra – the Brahmins. The Congress has started a campaign of #brahminmuktbhajpa to wean away upper caste from BJP. The campaign is malicious but has so far failed to cut much ice.
The Brahmins have always been the bulwark of BJP’s vote bank. Since 1990s , this upper caste has thrown its weight behind the BJP, catapulting this party to power. In initial days, Brahmins were staunch supporters of the Congress but with the emergence of the BJP this upper caste shifted towards Bharatiya Janata Party. This goes without saying that Brahmins vote tactically. It is a known fact that whomsoever Brahmins support, the party comes to power. This happened with the BSP in 2007 and the Samajwadi Party in 2012 Assembly elections.
The BSP and SP have been quite vocal in their pursuit of the significant Brahmin vote, said to be 12 per cent of voters in Uttar Pradesh. “Brahmins have always been important in UP politics, because of numerical strength in at least 20lok Sabha seats and therefore Brahmins are held in high esteem,” senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra said. The BSP has brazenly promoted caste in Uttar Pradesh’s politics for the last two decades or so. It was in the 80s BSP founder Kanshi Ram declared that he would oust the upper castes from power. He promoted caste rallies and even coined slogans like, ‘Tilak, tarazu aur talwar; inko maaro joote chaar’— which was a direct and vicious attack on caste Hindus.