In fact, governors/Lt governors in as many as seven states/UTs are from the east UP region – the latest addition being Shiv Pratap Shukla and Laxman Acharya who have been assigned Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim, respectively. While Shukla, a former Union minister, is an ex-BJP MLA from Gorakhpur, Acharya, the vice-president of UP BJP and an MLC, is from Varanasi, the parliamentary seat of PM Narendra Modi.
Likewise, Phagu Chauhan, who has been shifted from Bihar to Meghalaya, is a six-time MLA from Ghosi assembly seat in Mau. Earlier with Mayawati’s BSP, Chauhan switched over to BJP just before the 2017 assembly elections when the saffron outfit rode to power with an overwhelming majority. Similarly, Brigadier (Retd) BD Tripathi, a decorated Army officer who has been shifted as governor from Arunachal Pradesh to Ladakh, hails from Bhadohi (Sant Ravidas Nagar).
Earlier, former Union minister and ex-UP BJP chief Kalraj Mishra, a native of Azamgarh, and BJP’s ex-Ghazipur MP Manoj Sinha had been appointed as governors of Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir, respectively. Likewise, Congressman-turned-BJP leader Arif Mohammad Khan, the incumbent governor of Kerala, has been an MP from Bahraich.
Experts said that propping senior BJP leaders from Purvanchal to gubernatorial posts has brought the arc-lights on the political significance of the region which comprises more than two dozen parliamentary seats. The region is also significant from the point of caste matrix which plays a crucial role in deciding the electoral fortunes of the political parties. The appointment of governors, too, is replete with caste balance – while Shukla happens to be a Brahmin, Acharya is a Dalit. Similarly, Phagu Chauhan hails from ‘Nunia’ community, one of the Most Backward Caste (MBC) communities in the east UP region.
“The BJP has been rewarding its important leaders by getting them appointed at various key positions,” said a senior UP BJP leader. The BJP already has its feet firmly grounded in east UP with PM Narendra Modi being an MP from Varanasi and CM Yogi Adityanath as the MLA from Gorakhpur. Analysts point out that even BJP president JP Nadda turned to Ghazipur first and held a public rally last month after being given an extension till the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Analysts said that the opposition, primarily the Samajwadi Party, too, has been seeking an opportunity to consolidate its position in east UP which has been increasingly turning into a tough political terrain for the Akhilesh Yadav-led political outfit – essentially since its loss in the Azamgarh bypolls last year.
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