Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government which begins its second term on Friday, will focus on youth, education, health, women, employment generation and infrastructural development.
According to sources, these policies will consolidate BJP’s socio-political positioning, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third consecutive term.
BJP sources said that the party is expected to put the non-Yadav OBC and Dalit ranks on a high priority index in a bid to consolidate the two communities.
Of the 273 MLAs of the BJP-led alliance in the state, 89 are OBC while 63 are Dalit, which is more than 55 per cent of the total NDA strength in the state Assembly.
Sources said that the party faced a palpable change in the mood of Backward Classes towards the BJP after some of the top non-Yadav OBC leaders, including Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan and Dharam Singh Saini turned rebel and joined the Samajwadi Party.
“Yet the community showed its electoral allegiance towards the BJP. This is certainly being recognised by the party,” said a senior functionary.
Uttar Pradesh BJP OBC Morcha chief Narendra Kashyap said that there is no doubt that the backward community has emerged as a major power centre in the state politics. “The community supported BJP this year also the way it did in 2017. It will continue to support the party in the future also,” he stated.
In the previous 49-member Yogi cabinet, 17 ministers were from the OBC and five were from the Dalit community. Uttar Pradesh received special attention as three ministers each from OBC and Dalit categories were inducted in the Modi cabinet which underwent an expansion last year.
Besides perfecting its caste bouquet, the BJP is also expected to factor in an array of parameters which will programme its overall political positioning and social outreach.
“This time, we are being challenged by our own achievements and we face the task of pushing the envelope further and outdoing our own performance. The party hopes to get the best of the balance in terms of caste, community and region where development is concerned,” said the functionary.
Since women voters have played a vital role in ensuring the return of the BJP in the state, the chief minister will be giving special attention to making women feel even more secure and self-reliant in financial terms.
The opposition had tried to turn unemployment into a major election issue and the Yogi government will now try to create jobs and nullify the opposition charge.
Apart from giving a push to infrastructural development, the new Yogi government will also work on improving the health sector and increasing facilities.
(IANS)
