Samajwadi Party (SP), the main Opposition in Uttar Pradesh, which wields significant support in the State’s Yadav community, on Wednesday played down the appointment of Mohan Yadav as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. The SP described Mr. Yadav as a “mask installed by anti-Mandal and casteist forces” aimed at distracting the Other Backward Class (OBC) masses from “real issues”, including a caste-based census, and the representation of backward and marginalised sections of society within power structures.
“Whom they want to make the Chief Minister is the BJP’s internal matter, but will Mohan Yadav-ji will be able to declare a caste-based census in Madhya Pradesh, on the lines of Bihar? The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the BJP are controlled by such forces who install ‘masks’ to weaken the issue of reservation and proportional representation of backward classes in the power structure,” Sunil Singh Yadav ‘Sajan’, an SP spokesperson, said.
Mr. Sunil Singh Yadav, a close aide of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, added that the selection of a CM from the Yadav community in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh would have no impact on the community in U.P. “Babulal Gaur was appointed as the CM of Madhya Pradesh in 2004 — he was also from the Yadav community. Did it make an impact in U.P.? The SP got the full support of the community in particular and OBCs in general. The political impact of Mohan Yadav’s appointment will be the same as that of Babulal Gaur,” he said.
U.P.’s political corridors are rife with speculation that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister may actively campaign in the State. “The Chief Minister is appointed for governing the State and not for campaigning purposes,” the SP’s chief spokesperson and senior leader, Rajendra Chaudhary, said in a reaction.
The BJP’s Yadav outreach in U.P. has been taking shape since it formed the State government in 2017, with two of its Rajya Sabha members elected from the State hailing from the community — Sangeeta Yadav and Harnath Singh Yadav.
Mr. Harnath Singh Yadav hails from the Mainpuri region, home turf of the SP’s first family.
The Yadav community is numerically one of the largest caste groups in U.P., with a sizeable population in roughly 15 parliamentary seats, including Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Sitapur, Unnao, Etawah, Kannauj, Jalaun, Jhansi, and Azamgarh. It has remained mostly with the SP, the party led by the family of the former three-time U.P. Chief Minister, the late Mulayam Singh Yadav.
