While carrying out the mega cabinet expansion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused considerably on election-bound states and backward communities. The strength of leaders from OBC and SC categories in the new team of PM Modi is good. But amid this social engineering exercise, a little bit more needed to be done as far as UP and Uttarakhand are concerned. Nothing was seen in the cabinet expansion aimed at wooing the Jat community which is dominant in Western Uttar Pradesh. This, despite the fact that leaders of agitating farmers belong to this region of UP. Similarly, the Garhwal region, which accounts for a majority of Assembly seats in Uttarakhand, was ignored in the cabinet expansion exercise.
Ajay Bhatt, who was given a ministerial berth, belongs to Kumaun division where Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also hails from. What was believed was that after the removal of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, either former CM Tirath Singh Rawat or RS MP Anil Baluni would be accommodated. But Ajay Bhatt made it to the team Modi, resulting in lack of regional balance in Uttarakhand. State BJP president Madan Kaushik is also from non-hill area. Significantly, of all 70 Assembly seats, 41 are from Garhwal region. So, the issue of regional balance being ignored could be a big issue at the time of assembly elections which are due after eight months. Now, NSA Ajit Doval is the only person from Garhwal to hold a significant post in the Modi government.
Maximum number of ministerial slots have gone to Uttar Pradesh, with seven new faces having been accommodated in the cabinet. Of these, six are from eastern UP. Analysts believe that BJP is going to repeat the strategy of 2017 elections when it had tried to woo all backward castes excluding Yadavs. This is the reason why a lot of publicity was given to the government focusing on social engineering ahead of the expansion. A message about the government taking care of backwards in UP was spread through the media.
However, Ajay Mishra, who is a new face, has been accommodated in order to woo the Brahmins in UP. BJP strategists are confident that the forwards will not go away from the saffron outfit, so the more focus is on backwards. In order to give a message to Yadavs, Bhupinder Yadav of Rajasthan, who is also close to Amit Shah, has been given a cabinet berth. He was holding a very important post in the organisation. But what has surprised many is that the Jat community of Western UP has been ignored. What remains to be seen as to what the BJP does to woo the farmers in days to come.
However, PM Modi has ensured that every state is given representation in his team. Ashwin Vaishnav, who was made a minister, is from Odisha quota. But he has his connection with Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Bhupinder Yadav is also from Rajasthan. Modi has tried to ensure a caste and class balance in the cabinet. Five leaders from Gujarat have been included in the team of PM Modi. States such as UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Manipur and Goa are going to polls next year. There is no denying BJP’s prestige is at stake in UP and Uttarakhand. Another message which PM Modi gave by removing several senior ministers is that he would not tolerate non-performance. The next year Assembly polls will be the first important test of the newly-expanded cabinet.