PM to share stage with 17 SC MPs as BJP woos Dalits

NOIDA: BJP virtually rang the UP assembly poll bells with the announcement of a visit by Narendra Modi to Noida on April 5, to launch the Stand Up India scheme and distribute e-rickshaws. A copy of the plan of the dais from which Modi will address the audience, issued by the PMO, offers an insight into the possible focus of the party's campaign in the state.Present on stage alongside the PM will be 17 party MPs elected from seats reserved for scheduled castes.
That's more than half the total number of people, including the PM, who will be present on the dais. The first row will seat nine, including the PM himself, finance minister Arun Jaitley, UP governor Ram Naik, Gautam Budh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma, Union minister Jayant Sinha and Ram Shankar Katheria, the junior HRD minister and controversial MP from Agra (a scheduled caste seat).
The second row will seat 19, including 16 MPs from scheduled caste seats. They include Anju Bala (Misrikh), Anshul Verma (Hardoi), Chhotelal (Robertsganj), Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (Jalaun), Rajesh Kumar Diwakar (Hathras), Ashok Kumar Dohrey (Etawah), Kaushal Kishore (Mohanlalganj), Kamlesh Paswan (Bansgaon), Krishna Raj (Shahjahanpur), Priyanka Singh Rawat (Barabanki), Vinod Kumar Sonkar (Kaushambi), Neelam Sonker (Lalganj), Ram Charitra Nishad (Machhlishahr), Sushree Sadhvi Savitri Bai Phoole (Bahraich), Yashwant Singh (Nagina) and Bhola Singh (Bulandshahr).
With the 20% Dalit population of the state expected to play a decisive role in the assembly polls next year, and former chief minister and Dalit leader Mayawati seen as a major force, BJP's tactics are obvious. Mayawati's Dalit votebank is a serious challenge for BJP in the battle for UP.
For long a bit player in the state, Congress is also aggressively wooing Dalits in a bid to revive itself in the state in the 2017 elections. The party recently released a 22-point manifesto promising better representation for Dalits in the party, and a slew of measures and laws it would legislate for their benefit, if voted to power.