On 8 April 2016, on the first day of Chaitra, he was appointed the Bharatiya Janata Party chief of Uttar Pradesh.[4][5] A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he also participated in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He belongs to Kushwaha community, which is spread across the state of Uttar Pradesh and is known by different names in different regions of state.[4] Born in 1969, in Sirathu in Kausambhi district, adjoining Prayagraj, Maurya went on to study Hindi Literature at the Hindu Sahitya Sammelan in Prayagraj.[6] Besides being a politician, Maurya is also the owner of several institutions, which includes, a hospital, a petrol pump, an agro trading company and Kamdhenu Logistics. His asset is spread across Allahabad.[7]
Political career
Maurya has been associated with the RSS and the VHP-Bajrang Dal from an early age, holding the posts of Nagar Karyawah and VHP Pranth Sanghathan Mantri, among others. While being active in the gauraksha (cow-protection) movements. He also participated in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. In the BJP, Maurya has been the regional (Kashi) coordinator of the backward class cell and the BJP Kisan Morcha.[4][8] He has contested the 2002, 2007, and 2012 assembly elections, he lost the 2002 and 2007 elections but won in 2012, and was the sitting MLA from Sirathu assembly constituency before getting elected as MP from the Phulpur seat in 2014 with a thumping five lakh votes and over 52 percent votes.[6] In April 2016, he was made the state president of BJP in Uttar Pradesh.[9] Under his leadership, the BJP registered a historic victory in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. After the election results were out, he was considered a strong contender for the post of Chief Minister.[10][11][12] On 18 March 2017, he was appointed the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.[13]
He became the first MLA of the BJP from Sirathu Tahseel in the year 2012. It was the first time any MLA of BJP was elected from Sirathu Tahseel. And after two and a half years he became the MP from Phoolpur from BJP. He got the ministries of the Public Works Department (PWD), food processing, entertainment tax, and public enterprises department.[14][15]
Keshav Prasad Maurya, MP, Phoolpur (U.P) and Shri Satyapal Singh Saini, MP, Sambhal (U.P) meeting the Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation.
Maurya was appointed as state president of BJP for Uttar Pradesh, to consolidate the outreach of the party among Most Backward Castes.[18][19] Traditionally, the parties active in the state, like the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party had the support of Yadavs and Jatavs, hence, with the appointment of Maurya as its state chief, BJP tried to woo non-Yadav OBCs in the state. Maurya worked to connect these social groups to the BJP, and with his efforts, the BJP was able to win 312 of the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, in the 2017 legislative assembly elections. His tenure as BJP's state chief was also helpful in paving the way for the entry of another significant OBC leader, Swami Prasad Maurya in BJP, who also joined the party in 2016. After its win in the 2017 Assembly election, Maurya was increasingly projected as the OBC face of the party.[20]
In his first tenure, Maurya remained critical of the politics of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party. In 2019, during a rally, Mayawati urged Muslims to vote for the BSP-SP alliance. This statement of hers was criticised by Maurya in a press briefing. Maurya alleged that Mayawati had been using Dalits as a 'vote bank', and she had started appeasing Muslims. He also said that Akhilesh Yadav is not loyal and Mayawati shouldn't believe him, pointing towards latter's tussle with Shivpal Singh Yadav.[21] In 2022, Akhilesh Yadav offered Keshav Maurya to cause a defection of hundred MLAs of BJP and join hands with Samajwadi Party. He ensured that the Samajwadi Party would provide support to Maurya in such a condition, and help him become the Chief Minister, replacing Yogi Adityanath. However, Maurya replied to Yadav that the latter should worry about their MLAs, as they can also defect towards BJP.[22][23][24] Political analysts recorded increased verbal attack by opposition leaders, specially Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Maurya, after his appointment as Deputy CM for his second term, right after losing his seat in 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. In a press conference, Yadav called Maurya a weak person. It was observed that during this phase of Maurya's tenure, Yadav and other opposition leaders singled him out and reduced their criticism of Yogi Adityanath.[25] Time and again, during his second term as deputy CM, Maurya also criticised Akhilesh Yadav publicly in press conferences for the alleged increase in criminal activities during Yadav's premiership of Uttar Pradesh. Maurya also alleged the Samajwadi Party of deception OBCs in the name of social justice.[26]
In the first quarter of 2023, Akhilesh Yadav, while speaking to the media, called Maurya a Shudra. After this remark, Maurya alleged that Yadav could get him killed, as the latter possessed hate for him.[27] Maurya was later projected as nationwide OBC face of BJP; he was deployed in various states during assembly elections to increase the mass outreach of the party. The state where he campaigned, included Gujarat in 2022, where BJP registered victory by a high margin.[28]
While campaigning in Ahmedabad, Maurya called Congress leaders "Chunavi Hindus" (election Hindus), he also said that for the BJP, Gujarat is more important than Uttar Pradesh, despite Uttar Pradesh having eighty lok sabha seats, and Gujarat having only 26 seats. At an event organised by the Other Language Cell of the Gujarat wing of BJP, Maurya said:[29]
“Those whose only aim is to insult Hindus in the country are chunavi Hindus. Look out for them…When elections are around, they go to the temple of Lord Somnath, Lord Ram, Hanuman. You should recall that when the Congress was in power in the country, it had told the Supreme Court that Lord Ram is just imaginary.” ... “Today, what forces the Congress to pay respects to Ram Lalla? The people of the country have known the character of Congress. And therefore, the country is becoming Congress-free.”[29]
After its victory in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, to strengthen its support base among the members of Koeri caste, Maurya was also made a participant in a convention celebrating the birth anniversary of Mauryan ruler Ashoka in Patna.[30] In 2019, while campaigning for BJP candidate Narendra Mehta in Mira Bhayander constituency in Thane, Maurya said: "Voting for BJP is like dropping Atom Bomb on Pakistan. He also takes a dig at other parties by saying that Goddess Lakshmi does not sit on bicycle or palm (election symbols of Samajwadi Party and Indian National Congress), rather she sits on Lotus (election symbol of BJP). He also compared the BJP's symbol with insignia of development.[31]
Maurya also played a significant role in bringing many leaders of the Kushwaha community, or those leaders, who were supported by the community in the state of Uttar Pradesh, into the fold of BJP, soon after his elevation as the chief of Bharatiya Janata Party for Uttar Pradesh. One such example is of Member of Legislative Assembly from Agra Rural constituency, Hemalata Diwakar Kushwaha, who, though herself being a member of Schedule Caste Dhobi community, was supported by members of Kushwaha community in Agra constituency due to her marriage with Tikam Singh Kushwaha. It was reported that Kushwahas were supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh earlier, but BJP followed a strategy of elevation leaders from this caste to higher positions, after raising Maurya as its state unit chief, to placate the community.[32][33]
By 2023, Maurya was also made a part of campaigns of the Bharatiya Janata Party in other states, where he was made a participant in several caste rallies. In June 2023, Maurya addressed a Grand Assembly (Mahasangam) of Mali caste in Jaipur. This assembly was attended by several notable community members from the caste cluster of Maurya, Kushwaha, Mali, and Saini, which included Shobha Rani Kushwaha and former cabinet minister of Rajasthan, Prabhu Lal Saini. However, during his address, Maurya had to face sloganeering in favour of Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, which disrupted his speech.[34] These campaigns of Maurya was a part of BJP's strategy to build an alliance of similar caste groups in Rajasthan, as it did in Uttar Pradesh.[35]
In July 2024, Maurya expressed his discontent against the style of functioning of Yogi Adityanath government. During 2024 general elections in Uttar Pradesh, the rift between BJP government of the state under Adityanath and BJP party workers came to the surface with BJP losing 29 seats in the Lok Sabha elections from the state. In a meeting of party workers, Maurya commented that organisation of BJP has always remained bigger than the government and it will be so in future. This was interpreted by a section of Indian media as an attack on leadership of Yogi Adityanath. Previously, Maurya had also skipped several cabinet meetings chaired by Adityanath.[36]
In the meantime, Maurya flew to Delhi and met BJP's national president J.P Nadda twice.[37] However, amidst rumours of rift between Yogi Adityanath and Maurya, latter praised Yogi Adityanath in a public address in Mirzapur district. Maurya demanded that some of the party activities that were supposed to be conducted through the political workers of BJP has been taken over by Yogi Adityanath government and the workers are not getting the recognition due to them. This event was considered as a thaw in relationship between Maurya and Yogi.[38]
Maurya was involved in cow protectionism in his early days while working as a member of various right-wing Hindu organisations. In an interview given to The Hindu, he supported the decision of Uttar Pradesh government of imposing National Security Act on those killing cows. He believed that, in the rule of BJP, the already existing cow protection legislation in the state were being implemented stringently. According to Maurya, the strict implementation of the provisions of NSA on those guilty of cow-slaughter will prevent others from doing so.[39]
Governance
In February 2023, Maurya launched a website named after him. The website was launched in order to make it easy for the people from the countryside in the state of Uttar Pradesh to connect with the Deputy Chief Minister Maurya. It was also designed in a way to make common people eligible to send suggestions and lodge complaints. He also launched a mobile application to track the step taken by government on the complaint made by people.[40]
In July 2024, Maurya was quick to write to the Appointment and Personnel department of Government of Uttar Pradesh, which then functioned under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on the issue of proper implementation of the reservation for Schedule Castes, Tribes and Other Backward Castes. The issue arose after dismal performance of BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath. Party's state chief Bhupendera Singh Chaudhary submitted a report to central leadership of BJP that sought shifting of votes of SC, ST and OBC community to INDIA alliance as the reason behind poor performance of BJP. Maurya, hence, demanded the data from the Appointment and Personnel department on contractual and outsourced staffs who were being recruited to various government departments in a bid to examine that whether the OBC, SC and ST community is represented in those appointments or not.[41] Maurya's response came soon after allegations made by BJP's ally Anupriya Patel, who alleged that under Yogi Adityanath government, the SC, ST and OBC candidates are being declared not suitable in the interview based appointment process to government departments, which hinders the implementation of reservation policy made for their proper representation at various echelon of government.[42]
Maurya also backed the protest of 69,000 teachers who were about to be recruited by a test conducted in 2019 for the position of Assistant Teachers in various government schools of Uttar Pradesh. The protesters alleged that despite securing more marks than the candidate of general category they were being selected against the vacancy meant for reserved category candidates. Moreover, the quota rules for the reserved category candidates are being sidelined and more than fifty percent of general caste candidate are being selected reducing the representation of Other Backward Castes and Dalits. In 2022, Yogi Adityanath government agreed to the allegations and admitted that discrepancies in implementation of quota rules has happened. This was followed by judgements of Allahabad High Court on issuing fresh list of candidates after reconsideration of the quota rules.[43]
The Bahujan Samaj Party is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans, referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with religious minorities. According to Kanshi Ram, when he founded the party in 1984, the Bahujans comprised 85 percent of India's population, but were divided into 6,000 different castes. The party claims to be inspired by the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule, Narayana Guru, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, and Gautama Buddha.
The Samajwadi Party is a socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. The Samajwadi Party is currently led by former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav. As of 2024, it is currently the third-largest political party in India, and the largest party in Uttar Pradesh.
Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) is an Indian political party active in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Yogi Adityanath is an Indian Hindu monk and politician, belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party who has been serving as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh since 19 March 2017. He is the longest serving chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, being in office for 7 years, and the only UP chief minister to have two consecutive terms.
Kushwaha is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture, including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis, Kachhvahas, Koeris and Muraos. Under the Indian government's system of positive discrimination, the Kushwahas are classified as a "Backward" or Other backward class. The Kushwaha had worshipped Shiva and Shakta, but beginning in the 20th century, they claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. At present, it is a broad community formed by coming together of several caste groups with similar occupational backgrounds and socio-economic status, who, over the time, started inter-marrying among themselves and created all India caste network for caste solidarity. The communities which merged into this caste cluster includes Kachhi, Kachhwaha, Kushwaha, Mali, Marrar, Saini, Sonkar, Murai, Shakya, Maurya, Koeri and Panara.
Dara Singh Chauhan is an Indian politician, currently serving as member of legislative council, and formerly represented the Madhuban in Uttar Pradesh as a member of Bharatiya Janata Party. He was former Cabinet Minister in Yogi Adityanath ministry. He also represented Ghosi in the 15th Lok Sabha, where he was leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In 16th Lok Sabha, he was defeated by Harinarayan Rajbhar who represented Bharatiya Janata Party by more than 140,000 votes.
Hari Kewal Prasad alternatively known as Hari Kewal Prasad Kushwaha was an Indian politician and Member of Parliament for four terms. He was a member of the 9th, 10th, 12th and the 14th Lok Sabhas of India. In all four terms, he represented the Salempur constituency of Uttar Pradesh and was a member of the Samajwadi Party political party before his death. and his son Ravindra Kushwaha is also currently Member of Parliament 2014 till now
Mahan Dal is an Indian political party founded by Keshav Dev Maurya based in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Dharam Singh Saini is an Indian politician and is a member of the 14th, 15th, 16th and the Seventeenth Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh of India. Saini represents the Nakur constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of the Samajwadi Party political party.
Swami Prasad Maurya is an Indian politician and was a member of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh of India. He represented the Padrauna constituency of Uttar Pradesh. He was a member of Samajwadi Party till 2024 to which he resigned. Maurya has been a Member of the legislative assembly for five terms, has been a minister in the government of Uttar Pradesh, Leader of the house, and Leader of the opposition. He was serving as Cabinet Minister for Labour, Employment and Co-ordination in Yogi Adityanath ministry. Until 2021, he was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party which he joined after a long stint with Bahujan Samaj Party.
Vijay Bahadur Yadav is an Indian politician and a member in 15th and 16th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh of India. Since 2012, he represents Gorakhpur Rural as a member of Samajwadi Party. Earlier he represented Maniram in 2007–2012 as Bharatiya Janata Party.
The election to the 17th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held from 11 February to 8 March 2017 in 7 phases. This election saw a voter turnout of 61.11% compared to 59.40% in the previous election. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the election by an overwhelming three-quarters majority of 325 seats despite not projecting a chief ministerial candidate before the election. As part of its election strategy, BJP contested under a collective leadership and capitalised mostly on the political clout and 'brand' of its leader Narendra Modi.
Naresh Uttam Patel is an Indian politician, leader of the Samajwadi Party and a former member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. He first became an MLA as a Janata Dal candidate in 1989 and is one of the founding members of the Samajwadi Party. Currently, he isUttar Pradesh State President of Samajwadi Party, second only to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in the organisational setup in party state unit. With his clean image and educated background (post-graduate from Kanpur University, he has earned a reputation of grass-root leader with wider following among the dominant Kurmi caste voters, the community to which he himself belongs.
The Mahagathbandhan, or MGB, or simply the Gathbandhan (Alliance), was an anti-Congress, anti-BJP, Indian political alliance formed in the run-up to the 2019 general election under the leadership of two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, along with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Samrat Choudhary, also known by his alias Rakesh Kumar is an Indian politician, who is currently serving as Deputy Chief minister of Bihar under Nitish Kumar. He is a member of the Bihar Legislative Council from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been the party president of BJP Bihar State unit from March 2023 to 25 July 2024. He has also remained Member of Legislative Assembly and a minister in Government of Bihar in Rashtriya Janata Dal government. Chaudhary has been a former Vice President of BJP for the state of Bihar and currently elected for the second term as MLC in 2020 after his first term ended in 2019. In 2014, Samrat planned a split in Rashtriya Janata Dal by defecting thirteen MLAs as splinter group of the party, later joining the BJP. In 2022, he was selected as the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council. In 2024, he was also made the convener of Group of Ministers on Goods and Service Tax rate rationalisation panel.
Maurya is a surname used by Kushwaha caste in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The community called Kushwaha are also known as Koeri, Kachhi, Shakya, Murao and Saini in various parts of the state of Uttar Pradesh. They are second largest OBC group in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh after Yadavs and are one of the most politically organised peasant community in India after Jats, Yadavs and Kurmis. In Rajasthan, due to lack of numerical preponderance in assembly constituencies like Jats, they are underrepresented in politics; however, in Bihar, they are a dominant caste, comprising approximately 9 percent of the population of state. They wield influence over 63 assembly constituencies and half a dozen Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Pallavi Patel is an Indian politician. She is the leader of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) party. She is daughter of Apna Dal Founder Dr. Sone Lal Patel and current member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Sirathu as Samajwadi Party candidate.
Kushwaha is a surname used by people of Koeri caste in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The Kushwahas are also known as Maurya, Shakya, Saini in various parts of north India. As per one opinion, the Kushwaha surname is also common among members of Kachhi caste, who later merged with the Koeris to become a single homogeneous community. They are a dominant OBC community in the state of Bihar.
Saini is an Indian surname, used by various communities in North India. In Uttar Pradesh, it is used by people of Kushwaha or the Koeri caste. In Rajasthan and Haryana, it is most often associated with Mali caste. Saini is also a community of Punjab, included in state's list of Other Backward Class from 2016 onwards. In Haryana term Saini is considered synonymous with other terms such as Koeri, Kushwaha, Maurya and Shakya, all included in state's list of Backward Castes.
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