Much significance is being attached to the promotion of minister of state for geology and mining Gyatri Prasad Prajapati, who is MLA from Amethi and the OBC face of Samajwadi Party.

It is now apparent that SP wants to strengthen Prajapati to mobilise support for party in the crucial 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Although senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav had said while releasing the list of party candidates that party would not field anyone against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, he had casually skirted to mention anything about Amethi. When asked by the newsmen, Ram Gopal Yadav had said that no decision had been taken about Amethi.

But recently CM Akhilesh Yadav had hinted that party would field candidates in Rae Bareili as well as Amethi.

It would be worth mentioning here that Gyatri Prasad Prajapati has also been awarded for his successful ‘Samajik Nyay Adhikar yatra’, which started from Lucknow and reached Jhansi on 11 January. The rath yatra is part of grand design of Mulayam Singh Yadav to consolidate backwards and OBCs for his party.

Prajapati who led the rath yatra also focussed on Akhilesh Yadav government’s commitment to give 17 OBC castes ‘Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe’ status. A resolution was passed in UP Assembly and was sent to central government for action.

The Samajik Nyay Adhikar Rath yatra led by Gyatri Prasad Prajapati evoked good response all though the route from Lucknow to Jhansi, where huge turnout boosted the moral of Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party.

Similarly, the promotion of another minister of state for Agriculture Manoj Kumar Pande is also very significant as Pande is considered to be the Brahmin face of the party.

It may be mentioned that Manoj Kumar Pande who belongs to Rae Bareili district had organised state-level Brahmin Sammelan for the party.

Political observers feel that elevation of Manoj Kumar Pande will help in mobilising Brahmin support for party in Rae Bareili in particular and the state in general. It may be mentioned that Brahmins have a good presence in Rae Bareili and had been voting for the Gandhi family from the days of Indira Gandhi’s husband Firoz Gandhi. (IPA)