With Dhananjay Singh’s backing, BJP puts its Thakur headache behind ahead of crucial UP phases

WHENhistory-sheeter-politician Dhananjay Singh declared his support to the BJP in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, it marked
another twist in the story of these polls, the party and the Thakur community in Uttar Pradesh.

All in the course of the past month, Dhananjay’s wife Srikala Reddy got the Jaunpur Lok Sabha ticket from the BSP, with the party dropping its sitting MP Shyam Singh Yadav to accommodate her; he got bail in a kidnapping case, almost simultaneously; then the BSP dropped Srikala as its candidate the day before the nomination deadline ended, and went back to Yadav; and within days, Dhananjay announced his support for the BJP. Soon after, Srikala posted a picture on X meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

With this, BJP leaders say, the party has all but secured the Jaunpur seat for its candidate Kripa Shankar Singh, who is marking a return to state politics after a long stint in Mumbai. Dhananjay is known to have influence over not just Thakurs but also OBCs in Jaunpur and the adjoining Machhlishahr constituency.

The move also cleared any impression of a continuing fissure between the BJP and the Thakur community in the state, which was witnessed in the first phase of the polls. This is significant as Thakurs dominate many of the constituencies in central and eastern UP, which vote in the fifth, sixth and seventh phases.

Earlier, to quash resentment among Thakurs seen in west UP, over reportedly being “ignored” by the BJP for tickets, the party did course correction by fielding community leaders in important seats such as Kaiserganj, Rae Bareli and Mainpuri. From Kaiserganj, the BJP resisted opposition from within ranks to field the son of senior leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, whom it had to