Over half of new Cabinet are new, bid to balance caste and region

At the same time, with the BSP losing ground, the BJP is moving to capture its base by appointing eight Dalit ministers, including former Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya and former IPS officer Arun Asim who belongs to BSP chief Mayawati’s caste.

The BJP has not taken any chance with its main upper caste vote base, either, ensuring that Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma is replaced by another member of the Brahmin community, Brajesh Pathak. Keshav Prasad Maurya has been retained as the other Deputy CM, despite his loss from Sirathu.

All of these permutations and combinations have ensured what the BJP believes is an optimum balance at the top: CM Adityanath (Thakur), Deputy CM Maurya (OBC), Deputy CM Pathak (Brahmin) and Cabinet Minister Baby Rani Maurya (Dalit).

When the first Yogi government was formed in 2017, its 47 members included six Rajputs, seven Brahmins, two Bhumihars, four (Baniya/Vaishya) and 14 OBCs, including two jats — the composition changed when the Cabinet was reshuffled later.

This time, with the SP’s Kurmi candidates defeating three ministers and other sitting MLAs of the BJP, the party has included four ministers from the community, including state unit chief Swatantra Dev Singh.

The four new Kurmi ministers represent four regions, too: Swatantra Dev from Orai/Mirzapur, Ashish Patel of Apna Dal from Bundelkhand, Rakesh Sachan from Kanpur, and Sanjay Gangwar from Rohilkhand.

In a clear reflection of pressure from SP, another OBC leader Jaswant Singh Saini, who was State OBC Commission chairman earlier, has been inducted as an MoS.

Among the five women ministers, three are Dalits: Baby Rani Maurya, MoS with independent charge Gulab Devi, and MoS Vijay Laxmi Gautam. Party leaders, including Modi, had spoken during the campaign about the role of women voters and beneficiaries, largely Dalits, of various Government schemes.

The new list also has two ministers from the Bhumihar community — Surya Pratap Shahi and former IAS officer A K Sharma — although the party had lost all assembly segments in Ghazipur, a Bhumihar base.

Among the OBCs, the three Jats are Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary from Mathura, who was retained as Cabinet Minister; Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary from Moradabad, who was elevated from MoS (Independent) to the Cabinet; and K P Malik from Baghpat, a debutant as Minister of State, who won from Baraut, an RLD base. Somendra Tomar, MLA from Meerut South, is the Gujjar face, replacing Ashok Katariya of Bijnor.

The Council of Minsters has seven Brahmins and seven Thakurs, besides the two Bhumihars. There are eight Dalit ministers, including one Cabinet Minister in Baby Rani, two MoS (Independent charge) in Asim Arun and Gulabo Devi, and five MoS in Dinesh Khatik, Manohar Lal Kori, Suresh Rahi, Anup Valmiki and Vijay Laxmi Gautam.

But while a big chunk of Dalit votes for BJP is from the Pasis, the only Minister from the community is Suresh Rahi, the son of former Congress leader, the late Ramlal Rahi.

Finally, even as the Prime Minister attacked “dynasty politics” in his campaign, there are at least three young ministers from political families. Jitin Prasada, who left the Congress last year to join the BJP; Nitin Agrawal, son of Naresh Agrawal who joined the BJP after stints in Congress, BSP and SP; and Sandeep Singh, grandson of former BJP stalwart and former CM Kalyan Singh and son of Rajveer Singh, BJP Lok Sabha MP from Etah.

Of the veterans, Suresh Khanna, nine-time MLA from Shahjahanpur, has been inducted as a Cabinet minister, raising the possibility that Ramapati Shastri, a senior Dalit leader, may be considered for the Speaker’s post — a big signal, if it happens.