Modi 3.0: 10 members from UP in Union Council of Ministers

Lucknow: Ten members from Uttar Pradesh were inducted on Sunday in the Union Council of Ministers of the BJP-led NDA government, with caste balance weighing heavily.

In the Modi 3.0 Government, five backwards, two Dalits and three forward caste leaders from UP have been given ministerial berths.

The NDA faced serious reverses in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh while the INDIA bloc made massive gains with the Samajwadi Party crediting its "PDA" formula for the victory.

PDA stands for the SP's focus on 'Pichhra (backward), Dalit, Alpsankhyak (minorities)'.

In the formation of the new government, five members of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community from UP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been included.

Besides Modi (Teli-Vaishya community), the others are Jayant Chaudhary (Jat), Pankaj Chaudhary (Kurmi), Anupriya Patel (Kurmi) and BL Verma (Lodh).

Kamlesh Paswan (Pasi) and SP Baghel (Dhangar) from the Dalit community have also been given a place in the government.

Three leaders from the so called upper castes have been given an opportunity in the Union Council of Ministers. Rajnath Singh and Minister of State Kirtivardhan Singh, who took oath second after Modi, come from the Kshatriya community, while another Minister of State Jitin Prasada represents the Brahmin community.

Among the ministers included in the Modi 3.0 government (from allies) are RLD's Jayant Chaudhary who was awarded the post of Minister of State with independent charge, Anupriya Patel, the chief of Apna Dal (S), who has been in the NDA since 2014, has been successful in becoming a Minister of State for the third time.

Other BJP allies in UP, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) led by UP government's Panchayati Raj Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) led by UP's Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad, did not get a place in the council of ministers as they suffered defeat in the polls.

SBSP chief's son Arvind Rajbhar lost to SP candidate Rajiv Rai in Ghosi, while former MP Praveen Nishad, son of the NISHAD Party chief who contested on the BJP symbol in Sant Kabir Nagar, also lost his seat.

Out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, the BJP has won 33 seats, RLD has won two and Apna Dal (S) has won only one seat, while the Samajwadi Party has won 37 seats and Congress six seats.

Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad, who contested the election alone, won the Nagina seat.

The BSP could not manage to win even a single Lok Sabha seat this time.