BJP forms 4-member committee to woo Brahmin voters in UP

New Delhi, Dec 26 (IANS) The BJP on Sunday decided to form a four-member committee to finalise various outreach programmes to woo Brahmins ahead of next year's Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

"Former Union Minister Mahesh Sharma and Shiv Pratap Shukla, and party leader Ram Bhai Mokariya and Abhijat Mishra are the members of the committee to decide outreach programmes to woo Brahmins," a BJP insider said.

Another senior party leader said that the decision to form the committee has been taken in a meeting held at the residence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

It is learnt that the Brahmin leaders of BJP will lead the outreach programmes in all the 403 assembly constituencies of the state.

In the meeting, Pradhan, election in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, and senior Brahmin leaders of the party from the state discussed plans to woo the community before the elections. For the last few months, speculation has been doing the rounds that the Brahmin community in Uttar Pradesh is unhappy with the ruling BJP in the state.

Sources said that in the meeting it was discussed that Brahmins are not unhappy with the BJP and its government but there may be some resentment at local level due to some administrative reasons. "It has been discussed that if there is any resentment then party leaders must meet the community and address their grievances at the earliest," sources said.

The meeting, held at Pradhan's official residence here, was attended by ministers in UP government, MPs, MLAs. The meeting lasted for about three hours.

Brahmins constitute over 10 per cent of the total electorate of Uttar Pradesh and their support is crucial for BJP's victory in 2022.

Sources said that UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, minister in state government Shrikant Sharma, MP Harish Dwivedi and others attended the meeting. It is learnt that Uttar Pradesh BJP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal was also present in the meeting.

BJP Brahmin leaders have been asked to start a community outreach plan to placate them and explain to them about government welfare schemes which have benefited the community. In September, the BJP had organised a 'prabuddh varg sammelan' across the state to reach out to the community.

A section in the saffron party feels that there is a perception among the community that the Yogi Adityanath government has ignored the community. However another section in the party feels that the community is with the party and resentment is the creation of opposition parties.