Rae Bareli: A BJP worker, who passed away two years ago, has been included in the party's list of mandal presidents and representatives that was recently released for Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district.
A total of 750 mandal presidents were appointed by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh among which, 22 people have been selected from Rae Bareli. This apart, 22 representatives of the mandal presidents were also announced and a list was released from the BJP state headquarters.
Deceased Sanjay Maurya's name has featured among the mandal president representatives and he has been given the responsibility of garnering votes on the basis of caste equations. However, with the matter going viral on social media, the party is facing severe criticism from all quarters.
As a damage control measure, BJP has released a revised list by deleting Sanjay's name. But no official confirmation has been received till now.
The list of mandal presidents and their representatives has been finalised on the recommendation of election officer and former state president Mahendra Nath Pandey. Rakesh Mishra was responsible for the mandal president election in the district. The mandal president was elected under the supervision of district in-charge Piyush Mishra and state general secretary Sanjay Rai.
An attempt has been made to balance caste equation for the post of mandal president. In the Assembly-wise list, the party has sidelined the Yadav community and the other OBC castes have also got very less representation. People are raising objections regarding the various posts of mandal presidents and inclusion of Sanjay Maurya's name.
Sanjay, who died on May 18, 2022, has been appointed as the district representative of Rahi block and given responsibility to garner caste votes. Sanjay's brother Ashok, who lives in Dihwa in Rahi block of Rae Bareli said the information given in the list is wrong. After Sanjay's name featured in the list, Ashok has been receiving calls at his house.
BJP district president Buddhilal Pasi said that the Sanjay Maurya included in the list may be someone else because address or mobile number has not been given. Pasi said that the election of mandal president and representative is conducted by the people of the committee and the district president has no role in this.
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