Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Brahmins make a comeback' that was published in Newsband

Brahmins make a comeback

Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as the Bharatiya Janata Party's first and Maharashtra's 27th chief minister in a gala ceremony at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Friday. The best thing about Fadnavis is that he is a Brahmin who will head a State which was previously dominated by Marathas.

Thackeray was invited by BJP president Amit Shah as a special guest, though BJP has not yet decided on taking the Sena on board to form its government in Maharashtra. The 25-year-old alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena had broken last month following differences over sharing of seats for the Assembly polls. BJP leaders were also furious about the comments passed by newspapers run by Shiv Sena.

In the run-up to the polls, Thackeray had said the BJP’s star campaigners were like “Afzal Khan’s aulad”. Addressing a public rally at Tuljapur, Sena national president had said, “What are they up to? First Modi comes to campaign, then his entire cabinet team campaigns for votes in Maharashtra. They are like Afzal Khan’s aulad, trying to conquer this state.”

Another issue that has hurt the BJP leadership is an editorial that appeared in Sena mouthpiece “Saamna” a day after the poll campaign ended. “The BJP ignored Sena after the Lok Sabha win. The Sena played a significant role, otherwise even Modi’s father would not have been able to win majority in the Lok Sabha polls,” it said.

Sources said the BJP has conveyed to the Sena that it wants a public or private apology. The party also wants the Sena to declare its support without any terms and conditions. The BJP’s list of dos and don’ts form part of the back channel negotiations, which also include discussions on cabinet berths.

With the rise of BJP in India as well as in certain states, it is a clear indication of the fact that Brahmins have made a comeback because Brahmins have bagged most top BJP posts. The Brahmin, Bania party doesn't seem to be interested in romancing the OBCs anymore. The BJP's choice of presidents in electorally crucial states as well as its central list of office-bearers symbolically highlights the trend quite clearly. The central unit led by Nitin Gadkari is dominated by the Brahmins. Besides the two leaders, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, the senior-most general secretary, Ananth Kumar, is also a Brahmin.

However, the party has been led by Brahmins in most other states. Pandit Ashwini Sharma has been heading it in Punjab, while Arun Chaturvedi has been the president of the Rajasthan unit. In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has found a Brahmin, Pandit Khimi Ram, to head it.

In states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, the BJP has ended up appointing a Brahmin. RSS-appointee Prabhat Jha is the chosen one to head Madhya Pradesh.

Similarly in Bihar, three prominent names like Mangal Pandey, Ashwini Choubey and Sukhda Pandey dominate and they are Brahmins. They were brought to forefront to counter-balance Nitish's overt stress on wooing the "extreme backwards". Even in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is desperate to fill the lacuna created by Atal Bihari Vajpayee's withdrawal from public life. While the BJP is considering many candidates, Lucknow mayor Dinesh Sharma is a strong contender because of his Brahmin lineage.

Thus Brahmins have at last made a comeback.