Today in this post of theUjjwal.in, we will discuss the Political Dominance of Bhumihar in Uttar Pradesh. Although Bhumihar Population in UttarPradesh is approximate 2 to 3 percent, but Bhumihar is special in politics here. From the very beginning till now the Bhumihar caste has got a place in politics.
Bhumihar Population in UttarPradesh
• In the year 2005, Mukhtar Ansari, who was in jail, was accused in the murder of Krishnanand Rai, the then BJP MLA and who had emerged as a big leader of Bhumihars in Purvanchal.
• According to an estimate, the number of Bhumihars in UP is only one percent of the total population of UP, but due to strong caste unity, no political party can ignore the Bhumihars.
By the way, there are two big Bhumihar Leaders in the current BJP cabinet. State’s Agriculture Minister Suryapratap Shahi and Ballia Minister Upendra Tiwari both come from Bhumihar caste. But after Manoj Sinha, who was once in the race for the post of Chief Minister, became the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Jammu and Kashmir, there was a lack of strong and active leader of Bhumihars in Purvanchal.
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Arvind Kumar Sharma was in discussion
Some BJP leaders in the Purvanchal of the state believe that the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised Arvind Kumar Sharma in stopping the infection by playing an exemplary role in the rescue work during the Corona period in Varanasi. After that the party can activate him as a strong Bhumihar leader in Purvanchal.However, the way Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took a tough stand on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA and criminal Mukhtar Ansari after the Lok Sabha elections, there is also a strategy to give a positive message to the Bhumihar caste of Purvanchal.
Let us tell you that in the year 2005, the then BJP MLA and Mukhtar Ansari, who had emerged as a big leader of Bhumihars in Purvanchal, was accused in the murder of Krishnanand Rai. It is to be known that since 1985, the Mohammadabad seat of Ghazipur was occupied by the Ansari family.
Be aware, Krishnanand Rai was coming back from the inauguration of a cricket match with his men. Meanwhile, the people who were ambushed attacked his convoy. Krishnanand Rai was put to death in broad daylight. Earlier in the year 1991, in the Chetganj area of Varanasi, there was the Avdhesh Roy Murder, whose blame is also on Mukhtar.
Awadhesh Rai’s younger brother Ajay Rai is a former MLA and Congress leader from Varanasi. In July 2019, the CBI court acquitted Mukhtar Ansari in the Krishnanand Rai murder case while the Awadhesh Rai murder case is still pending in the MP-MLA court in Prayagraj.
Tell you that Professor of Political Science Department in a University of Purvanchal DrRamesh Rai explains, “The Bhumihar community is very angry about the role of Mukhtar Ansari in getting the Bhumihar leaders killed in Purvanchal. It was not a mere coincidence that when Arvind Kumar Sharma was entering the politics of UP, the Yogi Adityanath government was trying to bring Mukhtar Ansari, who was lodged in Ropar jail in Punjab, to UP.
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Let us tell you, the way Krishnanand Rai’s wife and BJP MLA from Mohammadabad seat, Alka Rai thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after the Supreme Court order to bring Mukhtar Ansari to UP, it also towards the new equation being created in Bhumihar politics. Hinted too.
Dr. Sushil Pandey on Bhumihar
Dr. Sushil Pandey, Associate Professor of History Department at Babasaheb Bhimrao
Ambedkar University, Lucknow has done research on the caste structure of UP. Sushil Pandey explains, “In the past, such Brahmins who were big landlords have been called Bhumihars. It is a highly educated caste.
They are also called Bhumihar Brahmins in Purvanchal and Bihar. Their numbers may be less, but the unity they have in the caste form makes them politically strong. According to Sunil Pandey, Ghazipur is a major center of Bhumihars in Purvanchal. Along with this, Bhumihars are present in good numbers from Ghosi, Mau, Deoria to Gorakhpur.
These castes use Singh, Rai, Sinha along with their names besides Brahmins’ surnames like Sharma, Tiwari. In the west, the Tyagi are an important Bhumihar caste. Ashwani Tyagi, who comes from this caste, has been given an important role in the organization as in-charge of Braj region by making BJP a member of the Legislative Council.
Let us tell you that according to an estimate, the number of Bhumihars in Uttar Pradesh is only about one percent of the total population of the state, but due to strong caste unity, no political party can ignore the Bhumihars. They have always dominated.
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Bhumihar Leaders in UP
Whether the government in UP has been of Congress or BJP or BSP and SP, Bhumihar leaders have always got attention. Rajnarayan, Gauri Shankar Rai, Jharkhande Rai, Genda Babu, Triveni Rai, Krishnanand Rai, Rash Behari, Vishwanath Rai, Panchanan Rai, Kalpanath Rai, Kunwar Revathi Raman Singh represented Bhumihar caste in politics with full force.
If we look at the old election results of Ghosi, Mau, Deoria and Ghazipur, then Jharkhande Rai of Ghosi was elected for a long time. After this, Rajkumar Rai, who won the election from Janata Dal, was also a Bhumihar. Kalpanath Rai and Ghosi had become each other’s identity.
In the Kalyan Singh government of BJP, Suryapratap Shahi was fit from the Bhumihar quota, while Jagdish Rai, the Bhumihar leader of Purvanchal, got a high chair in the BSP government. In the Akhilesh government that came to power in the year 2012, from Manoj Rai of Varanasi to Narad Rai and PK Rai of Gorakhpur, they were awarded red beacons.
Let us tell you that in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Manoj Sinha, who united the Bhumihars under the BJP flag in Purvanchal by making lotus entry in the Bhumihar society, got two ministries in the central government. Despite losing the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, by appointing Sinha as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP government has tried its best to hold the Bhumihar caste till the 2022 assembly elections in UP.
In UP, Bhumihars were not continuously associated with any one political party. In the 2012 assembly elections, the Bhumihars extended their support to the Samajwadi Party, and after five years, they joined the BJP’s camp after throwing their bicycles. Now, which side it will sit in the 2022 assembly elections, it will tell the results, but all the parties will try their best to capture these influential vote banks.
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