Lucknow: Union Minister Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (Sonelal) appointed Jatav R.P. Gautam as the president of its Uttar Pradesh unit Thursday, in a move which is being viewed as the party’s attempt to woo the Dalit community.
Earlier this month, the former state president, Raj Kumar Pal, had resigned from the position after accusing Anupriya and her husband Ashish Patel—a minister in Uttar Pradesh cabinet—of neglecting him and mistreating party workers.
Gautam, an old loyalist and the party’s co-operative wing chief, has now taken up the responsibility. The 60-year-old hails from the Sitapur district, and has also been a Dalit rights activist and social worker for the past two decades.
The position of state president was previously held by an OBC leader (Pal), but now the party has picked a Jatav (segment of Dalit community) leader for the role for the first time in a bid to increase its outreach, according to party functionaries.
“This is the first time we have appointed a Jatav state chief, in line with our social engineering plan. We are hoping for positive results,” Ashish Patel told ThePrint.
A senior functionary said, on the condition of anonymity, that the party wants to step out of the image of an OBC party.
“This move comes at a time when the support base of BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party), which is considered the first choice of Jatavs, has been shrinking for the last few years. Jatavs are looking for an alternative. So, our leadership has decided to focus on increasing its base. The population of Jatavs is above 12 percent in the state, which is significant in creating an impact in electoral politics,” the leader told ThePrint.
Now, as the party focuses on the preparation for the upcoming local body elections this year and the 2027 assembly elections, Gautam has been given this big responsibility, he added.
However, Apna Dal (S) is not the only party eyeing BSP’s core vote bank.
The Samajwadi Party’s “Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak (backward-Dalit-minority)” plank got a big boost in April this year, following the induction of former minister and BSP founding member Daddu Prasad, along with a few other local BSP leaders. Before this, SP had inducted several BSP leaders last year, too.
Additionally, SP’s district units had also held a week-long “Swambhiman Samman Samaroh” to mark the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar this year. The aim was to reach out to prominent members of the Dalit community at grassroot level and felicitate them.
Similarly, Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) is also planning to expand their base, having completed the process of appointing local units in all 75 districts of the state.
UP-based political analyst Shilp Shikha Singh explained that BSP’s “downfall” has opened up space for other parties in terms of the Dalit voter base.
“Every party has realised after Lok Sabha results in UP that there is scope to gain this ‘loyal’ vote bank of the BSP, as the old party is not able to perform well in polls. The grand celebration announcements on Ambedkar Jayanti last month have also given a hint that every party is eyeing Dalit votes. As of now, it seems like a smart move by a BJP ally (Apna Dal).”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: Why Raj Kumar Pal stepped down as UP chief of Apna Dal (S), a ‘2-personality show’
