Two senior OBC ministers’ departure from the Yogi Adityanath government along with several MLAs on Tuesday and Wednesday has rattled the BJP, which fears a possible revival of Mandal politics in the run-up to the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections. Mandal politics has, however, appeared to take a back seat since 2014 with one polarising campaign after another lifting Narendra Modi to power at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow. BJP strategists now fear that this week’s developments might reignite a consolidation of the backward castes that the party can’t afford. Careful positioning by the principal challenger, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, has encouraged the rebellion in the BJP. Now Akhilesh has recast his politics and is trying woo the estranged non-Yadav backward groups, much as the BJP had done in 2017.

Source: The Telegraph January 13, 2022 02:20 UTC