New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) To push his Brahmin politics to the fore in Uttar Pradesh, Congress in-charge of West Bengal Jitin Prasada has transformed his Brahmin Chetna Parishad into a full fledged organisation and has appointed 25 district chiefs in the state, much to the surprise of his party.
Prasada, who has been appointed in-charge of West Bengal ahead of the elections, belongs to a Brahmin family of Shahjahanpur and is related to Rabindranath Tagore’s family. His great grandmother belonged to the Tagore family. He will be working in West Bengal, but his heart lies in Uttar Pradesh, said a close aide.
Since the day of his appointment as West Bengal in-charge, Prasada has not gone to the state even once.
Many in the Congress, however, have questioned his intent in forming an organisation on caste lines and have expressed worry at Prasada’s move.
Prasada refused to comment when questioned about the intentions, but sources say his goal is clear and he may reveal his cards at an appropriate time. He was also one of the signatories to the letter written by 23 leaders for reforms in the Congress party.
Of the 25 presidents appointed by the Brahmin Chetna Parishad, some are those who are being promoted for their “dabang” image. The organisation leaders say that this is to protect the community from onslaught by others.
Jitin Prasada in the past had alleged that the Brahmins were at the receiving end ever since the BJP government came to power. Ahead of the decision to form an organisation, the parishad had held several meetings of the community in each district to get feedback.
The Brahmins in the state make up about 11 per cent of the population. There has been a spate of crimes against the community and they have alleged official bias.
Since N.D. Tiwari in 1989, the state has not had a Brahmin Chief Minister with the state politics being dominated by the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the BJP with no Brahmin getting a chance to become the Chief Minister.
Jitin Prasada, whose father was a powerful Congress leader, lost the Lok Sabha elections twice in a row despite being a Union Minister in the UPA regime.
He now seems to have seized the opportunity to unite the Brahmins and use the situation to further his politics, say political analysts.
–IANS
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