The Congress in Uttar Pradesh is searching for an OBC leader who will help the party make a dent in the Samajwadi Party’s OBC votebank.
The Congress, which has failed to develop OBC leadership within the party, is now keen to project an OBC leader as a frontrunner for the next Assembly elections.
According to party sources, Congress strategists feel that the party would need more than just upper caste and Muslim support to get adequate numbers in the Assembly elections.
The Congress leadership in UP is Brahmin-oriented with both the UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi and CLP leader Pramod Tiwari belonging to the Brahmin community.
“The OBC votebank, at present is undecided. The Yadavs are fully supportive of the Samajwadi Party but other OBC caste groups like Kurmis, Lodh, Kushwaha, Maurya, Kori and Bind are not particularly aligned to any major political party. If we can project an acceptable OBC leader, we can wean away a section of the OBC votes which will work as add-ons to other caste groups,” said a senior party functionary. In the absence of any other credible OBC leadership in the state, it is the Samajwadi Party that walks away with the OBC votes in most areas. Other leaders like Kalyan Singh have limited areas of influence in the state.
Caste groups like Kurmis are virtually leaderless in UP, particularly after the demise of Dr Sonelal Patel, who had built an impressive pro-Kurmi outfit called Apna Dal. The Congress in UP, at present, has only two OBC leaders — Beni Prasad Varma and Ram Naresh Yadav — who have statewide recognition.
Mr Ram Naresh Yadav, former UP chief minister, is 83-years-old and not tailored for the aggressive politics that is presently being played out in the state.
Mr Beni Prasad Varma, on the other hand, is the tallest Kurmi leader in the state but what goes against him is the fact that he is relatively new to the Congress. A lobby that is opposed to Mr Varma insists that he is not “bankable” enough and does not fit into Mr Rahul Gandhi’s plan that focuses on young leaders.