Unease in UP BJP deepens amid gathering storm: UGC protests to Shankaracharya row

While Agnihotri alleged the new UGC regulations would lead to “harassment” of general category students through “false complaints” and decried the “mistreatment” of Avimukteshwaranand, who was prevented by UP Police from taking a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam on January 18, the suspended bureaucrat also claimed there was a “conspiracy” against him, targeting the Brahmin legislators for “failing” to stand up for their community.

Coupled with protests by some student groups in Lucknow and New Delhi against the new UGC rules, which mandate “equity committees” at higher education institutes to look into discrimination complaints made by students from the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) among others, and Avimukteshwaranand too coming out against these rules claiming it would “cause great harm to Hinduism”, senior BJP leaders are continuing to weigh their options before speaking publicly on the row.

As it stands, there is growing unease in the BJP over losing support among upper caste voters, who form a crucial vote bank for the party in the state.

Disquiet among Brahmin leaders

The BJP seems to be wary of an escalation of the row, particularly against the backdrop of a meeting of the party’s Brahmin MLAs and MLCs in Lucknow in December, and given that several party office-bearers across the state have since resigned over the UGC rules.

“No one is saying it openly, but there is certainly an undercurrent among Brahmin representatives of the BJP, especially among those in whose constituencies Brahmin voters play a significant role. Thus, before the upcoming polls, they have to also justify themselves before voters. They might not be coming out in the open now, but statements by Agnihotri have opened a Pandora’s box and the recent UGC regulations, coupled with the controversy over Swami Avimukteshwaranand, who is a Brahmin, has triggered it further,” said a senior party leader.

During the UP Assembly’s recent Winter Session, about 40 Brahmin MLAs and MLCs of the BJP had informally gathered in Lucknow over dinner convened by the party’s Kushinagar MLA P N Pathak. While some legislators spoke out over a “bias” against Brahmins at the meeting, these leaders have since gone quiet after facing reprimand from the BJP leadership, including state party chief Pankaj Chaudhary, who said the meeting was “against the BJP’s constitution and values”.

The BJP will hope to avoid a repeat of a July 2025 episode that saw state minister and BJP’s Akbarpur-Raniya MLA Pratibha Shukla stage a sit-in at a Kanpur police station to protest alleged biases against her supporters and “atrocities” against Brahmins, accusing Deputy CM Brijesh Pathak of allegedly failing to protect the community’s interests.

Of further concern to the BJP are reports of 11 office-bearers in the party’s Lucknow unit, led by mandal-level general secretary Ankit Tiwari, tendering their resignations over the UGC rules.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Lucknow district BJP chief Vijay Maurya said, “I have not personally received any letters (of resignation), but it has been communicated through social media. While I have not spoken to Tiwari myself, some of the people mentioned in the letter have called me saying that their names have been added without their consent. Even if Tiwari had any issues with a government decision, we have a proper system in the cadre, whereby everyone is free to discuss and raise their issues with the seniors. But instead of doing so, he went public… We are taking guidance from the senior party leadership for further action as it should not set the wrong precedent.”

Such resignations, however, have not been restricted to the Lucknow unit, with Raebareli district’s Salon area mandal chief Shyam Sundar Tripathi also reportedly resigning while calling the UGC regulations a “black law”.

However, following the recent directive from the state BJP leadership to raise concerns internally, sources say guidelines have been issued against speaking on the UGC issue, particularly after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan clarified on Tuesday that no one would be allowed to “misuse” the UGC provisions and that “discrimination will not be allowed against anybody”. “One needs to understand the new UGC regulations first. It is being misinterpreted,” said a BJP MLA who was at the December meeting of Brahmin legislators.

But that has not stopped veteran BJP leader and former Union minister Kalraj Mishra, who was previously the governor of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, from raising concerns over the new rule Wednesday. While acknowledging that the rules aim to prevent discrimination, Mishra said, “But the way rules have come forward, it seems that differences would increase.” He added the new rules should address discrimination against all groups, including upper castes, and that it is necessary to check “false complaints”.

BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the controversial ex-Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, has also issued a video statement to oppose the UGC rules. “I am completely against these rules. If necessary, I will protest the rules. We don’t need laws that will divide us,” he said. On Wednesday, his son and the BJP’s Kaiserganj MP Karan Bhushan Singh also demanded a “re-think” on the new regulations.

But even as the BJP looks to quell internal dissent, there were protests in different parts of the state over the UGC rules, including outside the Lucknow University campus. The Avimukteshwaranand row is also continuing, with firebrand BJP leader Uma Bharti targeting the state administration over it.

“I believe a positive resolution will emerge between Swami Avimukteshwaranand ji Maharaj and the Uttar Pradesh government, but the administrative authorities demanding proof of his status as Shankaracharya is a violation by the administration of its own limits and authority,” Bharti said in an X post on Tuesday, triggering another round of speculation given that Avimukteshwaranand has been vocal against CM Adityanath. However, later in the day, Bharti clarified her statements should not be viewed as against Adityanath, but rather as her support for Avimukteshwaranand.

Opposition’s stance

With several Opposition parties coming out in support of the UGC rules, the UP BJP finds itself caught between its upper caste Hindu vote bank and the Centre’s push for the new regulations.

On Wednesday, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati spoke in support of the new UGC regulations, calling the opposition to it “unjustified” and the result of a “casteist mindset”. “The opposition being raised by some people from the general category, driven by a casteist mindset, against certain provisions of the new rules framed by the UGC… to address caste-based discrimination in the country’s higher education institutions is completely unjustified,” Mayawati said.

A day earlier, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav also supported the rules, alleging that only “one or two” vice-chancellors of the universities in India belong to OBC or minority communities and “none are Dalits”. “The general category controls 90% of jobs in India,” he said, warning of counter protests from marginalised communities over the issue.