Despite the defeat in the recently concluded assembly elections, the BJP decided to make Keshav Prasad Maurya the deputy chief minister again in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet. Keshav Prasad Maurya lost the election from Sirathu seat in Kaushambi district to Pallavi Patel of Apna Dal (Kamerwadi). Since then speculations were being made whether he would be included in the Yogi cabinet or not. However, the party did not take the risk of ‘sideline’ Keshav Prasad, who has emerged as a prominent OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh.
According to sources, a section of the BJP leadership wanted to shift Maurya to Delhi, but the Deputy CM was not ready for it. With the Samajwadi Party likely to be more aggressive for its non-Yadav vote bank in the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, the ruling party did not think it appropriate to risk isolating Maurya ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Keshav Maurya has emerged as a prominent OBC leader after the Kalyan Singh era.
Keshav Prasad Maurya represents the Kushwaha-Shakya-Maurya-Saini-Mali community. According to the 2001 report of the Social Justice Committee constituted by the then Chief Minister Rajnath Singh, these communities constitute 6.69 per cent of the OBCs. The report also estimated that OBCs constitute 43.13 per cent of the population (54.05 per cent in rural areas). In such a situation, BJP did not want any ‘risk’ about Keshav Prasad Maurya.
The BJP is worried about not getting the required votes from the Kurmi community. According to the Social Justice Committee, this is the class which is the second largest OBC group in UP after the Yadavs and the Samajwadi Party has got the benefit of this class. In the recent election, Kurmi MLAs from the Akhilesh Yadav-led party defeated three sitting ministers, including Maurya, and won seven seats either held by the BJP or where the sitting MLA contested on his ticket.
Before the elections, the campaign of the Deputy Chief Minister in Sirathu was seen to be faltering. Maurya leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who left the BJP and joined the SP, had also taken a dig at the Deputy CM and termed him as “poor”. According to BJP sources, Kurmis largely voted for Pallavi Patel in the assembly elections and the BJP-Apna Dal (Sonelal) alliance could not create an atmosphere in Keshav Prasad Maurya’s side.