'Against party values': UP BJP chief's warning to MLAs after 'bias against Brahmins' discussed at Lucknow dinner meet

UP BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary. (Image Credit: X/@mppchaudhary)

The Uttar Pradesh BJP leadership on Thursday issued a firm warning against any form of caste-based mobilisation within the party, calling such activities a violation of its constitution and values. The development came two days after a group of BJP MLAs and MLCs met for a dinner in Lucknow amid murmurs of alleged bias against the Brahmin community.

The caution came from newly appointed state BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary, who said the party had taken serious note of reports about the meeting held at the residence of Kushinagar MLA PN Pathak earlier this week.

Photographs of the gathering had gone viral, drawing potshots from the Opposition which claimed the episode reflected internal unease within the ruling party.

While Pathak maintained that the meeting was merely a community dinner where legislators discussed issues such as development works and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, party sources said concerns over the perceived sidelining of Brahmins also figured prominently in the discussions.

The dinner followed a similar informal gathering of BJP Kshatriya legislators during the Monsoon Session of the Assembly, raising red flags within the party leadership.

Addressing the controversy, Chaudhary said such meetings were "not in accordance with the constitutional practices of the BJP" and sent out the wrong signal in society.

"The BJP is a party based on principles and values. BJP and its workers do not believe in politics for family or any specific section," he said in a statement on Thursday.

"We have spoken to our public representatives in this regard and they have been told clearly that any such activity is not in accordance with the constitutional traditions of the BJP. Public representatives have been asked to be cautious of such activities in future," Chaudhary said, adding that a repeat of such conduct would be treated as indiscipline under the party’s rules.

One of the legislators who attended the dinner, MLA Anil Tripathi, said social and political issues were discussed, including concerns within the Brahmin community.

"One of our biggest concerns was that our community contributed significantly to the formation of Bharat, but today, people of Brahmin samaj are being humiliated in society," Tripathi said, while insisting the meeting had nothing to do with the functioning of the government.

Echoing the party line, BJP MLC Umesh Dwivedi said those who attended the meeting would abide by the leadership's directive.

"We will desist from such meetings if the party does not want it or feels that it will not help the party's cause. We are with the party and will follow its instructions," he said.

Chaudhary underlined that the BJP stood for inclusive politics and warned legislators against lending credence to narratives that could weaken the party's broader social coalition.

"The BJP does not believe in politics based on family, class or caste," he said, adding that the development-oriented and nationalist politics led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had rendered caste-based mobilisation increasingly irrelevant in Uttar Pradesh.

The episode comes as the BJP gears up for local body elections and seeks to maintain internal cohesion while countering Opposition attempts to portray caste-based discontent within its ranks.

Totalling 84 out of the total strength of 258 BJP MLAs in the UP Assembly, Other Backward Classes have the highest representation followed by Scheduled Caste communities at 59, Thakurs at 45 and Brahmins at 42.

Other upper caste communities like Vaishya, Kayastha, Punjabi, Khatri and others have 28 representatives in the UP Assembly.

In the legislative council where the BJP has 79 MLCs, OBC account for 26, Thakurs 23, Brahmins 14, other upper castes 12 and SCs and Muslims at 2 each