While prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi picked Varanasi as his constituency, party president Rajnath Singh picked the equally symbolic seat of Lucknow for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However he could face a somewhat uphill battle if a caste alliance backing him wavers.
Singh, from the Thakur community, is someone the Brahmin community in Uttar Pradesh reportedly isn't taking too kindly to, especially given the fear that he may be the compromise prime ministerial candidate in the event that Modi is deemed unacceptable to potential alliance partners.
While the Thakur community dismisses this as conjecture, a Business Standard report quoted unnamed political observers as saying that distrust from the Brahmin community could make Lucknow a closer contest than Singh would like.
Rajnath Singh with Lalji Tandon in Lucknow. PTI
Singh has traditionally never enjoyed the backing of the Brahmin community in the state ever since he was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and at the time faced attempts by community leaders to unseat him.
BJP officials have also claimed in the past that Singh has been increasing the number of Thakur community members in the party, particularly former bureaucrats and leaders, in order to increase his influence. Among them include former Army chief VK Singh, ex-home secretary RK Singh and former Congress leader Jadambika Pal.
The Brahmin community is widely expected to stand behind the BJP and constitutes around 15 percent of the population in Uttar Pradesh. But the fact that the Muslim community constitutes around 30 percent in the seat, and he isn't certain of their vote, means Singh would need to ensure the Brahmin community stands firmly behind him during the poll.
It doesn't help that all his major opponents, from the Congress and BSP, are from the Brahmin community and the Samajwadi Party also strengthened its candidate from the seat to make his path to the Lok Sabha tougher. The Samajwadi Party changed its candidate to Akhilesh Mishra, an aide of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, in order to present Singh a stronger challenge.
The law of averages isn't in favour of the BJP president either. A Times of India report points out that a non-Brahmin candidate has won only during three elections in all the elections since 1951.
Singh brought up the legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a five time MP from the city, multiple times while announcing his candidature from Lucknow but the BJP stalwart was also from the Brahmin community.
The man he displaced to contest from the constituency, Lalji Tandon, is one of just three non-Brahmin candidates to win from the seat and was seen as being closer to Vajpayee than Singh is.
Expectedly, despite having a relatively secure seat, Singh isn't backing on the traditional vote bank to take him to victory. As a Firstpost report pointed out, Singh is also reaching out backward castes and the Muslim community to secure his victory not only for him but other seats in the state as well.
"It is not only in Lucknow but in at least a dozen seats that this combination can affect the result," a former Lucknow president of the BJP had told Firstpost.
If it all falls in place, Rajnath Singh may not only ensure a better tally for the BJP but could also cement his position as the second in line after the party's prime ministerial candidate.
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