Thrust on those who can take forward good governance agenda in Uttar Pradesh

Region, caste and gender representation have played a role in deciding new ministers to serve in Uttar Pradesh, but distribution and outcome are the most important criteria for selecting chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s aides. People with a track record of ‘delivery’ have been chosen by BJP leaders after several rounds of deliberations in Delhi and Lucknow.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the new government will build on the “strong foundation of distribution and development” laid by its predecessor. The new team in UP seems to be tolerating it. The new Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak had joined the BJP even before the 2017 assembly elections. He was a cabinet minister in the previous government. He has the image of a ‘people’s leader’ and is known to raise the right questions in the government. His commitment to the work of the party paid off and he was elected, even though he was not a BJP stalwart.

Swatantra Dev Singh had succeeded as party president and minister in the previous government. BJP insiders told ET that his quality as a ‘task master’ and ability to engage with grassroots party workers will be his assets as a minister. AK Sharma’s name was in the news during the reshuffle of the previous government. An aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sharma took charge of controlling COVID-19 in Varanasi during the second wave and succeeded in a week. His long association with Modi is seen as a testament to his potential.

Former IPS officer Asim Arun is considered the candidate of the central BJP leadership and party insiders said he was informed about his role in the government when he joined the party. Arun has been made Minister of State with independent charge. During the recent election, Dayashankar Singh was a well-known figure in the state for the national leadership of the party. He handled the OBC conventions and was quite successful in devising a strategy to win the support of the OBCs.

The five people in the new ministry are not members of either House in UP, and their inclusion comes as a surprise to many party insiders. His ability is believed to have worked in his favor. BJP youth leader Danish Azad is the only minority face in the cabinet. Azad joined the ABVP in 2011 and has been instrumental in attracting Muslim youth to the BJP since then. In 2018, he was made a member of the Committee on Urdu Language along with the Minister of State. With Azad replacing Mohsin Raza, the BJP leadership is probably sending a message that it wants to attract Muslim youth to the party.

Dayashankar Mishra, Minister of State with Independent Charge, is from Varanasi. He joined BJP from Congress in 2017. He impressed the party leadership with his work and reached out to the intellectuals of Varanasi and surrounding areas. Mishra, the principal of DAV College, Varanasi, was earlier made the chairman of the Purvanchal Development Board. IITian JPS Rathore was the election in-charge of West UP and despite the peasant movements, he implemented the strategy prepared by the top leadership on the ground and ensured a good performance by the party. An old party worker Jaswant Saini never won an election and has got a chance to start afresh. Narendra Kashyap is a former BSP MP and president of BJP UP OBC Morcha. He has been rewarded for his image as a silent worker among OBCs.

Originally published at Pen 18