BJP and SP nominations spotlight caste strategy in Uttar Pradesh council poll
The BJP and Samajwadi Party have announced candidates for Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats representing graduates and teachers. The BJP selected six candidates, including three Brahmins, while the SP’s list largely followed its PDA formula. The election is scheduled for October 23 amid concerns among teachers and students.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Samajwadi Party have announced candidates for Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections in which caste representation and professional concerns are expected to shape the contest. The BJP announced six candidates on Tuesday for Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies. It nominated Kedar Nath Singh for Varanasi Graduates and Pramod Mishra for Varanasi Teachers.
Hari Kishore Tiwari was selected for Agra and Dhruv Tripathi for Gorakhpur-Faizabad. Ashok Kumar Rathore will contest Prayagraj-Jhansi, while Dinesh Goel, identified in the source as belonging to the Vaishya community, will contest Meerut. The BJP’s list includes three Brahmin candidates, according to the report.
The Samajwadi Party had announced candidates for all 11 seats on Monday. Its selections largely reflected its Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak formula, known as PDA. The party selected Yadav candidates in Varanasi, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Agra, alongside Danish Akhtar in Moradabad and Parminder Bhati in Meerut.
The choices are being viewed in the context of the caste coalitions both parties are seeking to build before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. The source did not provide details of the remaining SP candidates. The election for all 11 council seats will take place on October 23.
The electorate is restricted to graduates and members of the teaching community rather than the general population. The contest comes amid reported dissatisfaction among teachers and students over recruitment, school mergers, salaries and employment security. Teachers’ constituencies were historically dominated by independent professional organisations and teachers’ unions, but major parties have increasingly supported union factions or fielded their own candidates to expand their influence in the council.
The source did not report any campaign response from the candidates.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.