BJP takes note as anxieties of loyal voters loom

For the better part of last week, the BJP has found itself grappling with the unease among Brahmin leadership after back-to-back events placed the ruling party at odds with its most loyal voter base.

As if tensions around Jyotirmath Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati’s alleged mistreatment by the Uttar Pradesh Police during Magh Mela (a charge the state government has denied) were not enough, came along the storm triggered by the UGC’s controversial equity guidelines.

Soon afterward, BSP chief Mayawati became the face of political protest against the Manoj Bajpai-starrer Netflix film “Ghooskhoor Pandit”, which the Centre rushed to stall by way of asking the platform to remove all promos.

The fast-paced events appear to have whipped up sentiments among Brahmins, thus far the BJP’s most vocal and abiding support base - a segment that has found itself at the receiving end of recent controversies, be it the issue of Swami Avimukteshwaranand being allegedly prevented by the UP Police from taking a holy dip in Prayagraj during Magh Mela, UGC rules or the digital platform film that insinuated an entire upper caste segment as a bribe-taker.

The film’s promotions were quickly taken off air with the director apologising for hurting mass sentiments and the announcement of the Centre’s action in the matter coming from BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia this week.

Earlier than that, some BJP leaders in UP’s Lucknow and Bareilly had even resigned in protest against the UGC guidelines that proposed protection against discrimination for SCs, STs and OBCs on campus - a move many saw as anti-general castes.

In fact in BJP-ruled UP, the resignation of Bareilly city magistrate Alankar Agnihotri against UGC rules and the alleged manhandling of Shankaracharya were enough to give the opposition ample ammunition to target the party as anti-Brahmin.

A section in the BJP has also been speaking in hushed tones about the party’s ties with its loyal support base and whether the aggressive OBC push needs a fine balance.

To the ruling party’s relief, the implementation of the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, was stayed by the SC on January 29.

Chief Justice Surya Kant even termed the rules “vague,” “sweeping,” and potentially “divisive” while granting an interim stay.

In the “Ghooskhor Pandit” matter, the Government itself moved quickly to damage control but not before BSP chief Mayawati had gone public with her sympathies for Brahmins.

“It is a matter of great sorrow and concern that not only in UP in recent times, but even in films, ‘Pandit’ is being portrayed as a bribe-taker and so on, leading to their insult and disrespect across the entire country. This has caused intense anger throughout the Brahmin community. Our party also strongly condemns this. The Central Government should immediately impose a ban on such a caste-indicating film (web series) ‘Ghooskhor Pandit’; this is the demand of the BSP. At the same time, registering an FIR by the Lucknow Police in this regard is an appropriate step,” Mayawati wrote on the morning of February 6.

By the evening the BJP announced on X that the Centre had asked Netflix to remove the teaser and all other promotional material of the film from the social media.

That said it is yet unclear if the storm is still brewing or if it has passed.

Conscious that perceptions are stronger than realities in politics, the BJP also appears to be on a course-correction spree with the Brahmins, whose importance as vote banks is not lost on anyone, least of all on the BJP.

This segment has time and again proved its political prominence in the electoral landscape of many Hindi heartland states, UP and Bihar to be most specific.

A case in point is the 2007 UP elections when Mayawati went on to create a Dalit-Brahmin alliance hitting the peak of her electoral career by winning 206 seats out of 403 and a 30.43 per cent vote share.

In India’s largest state UP, which has been the political nursery for many Indian prime ministers, Brahmins make up a significant portion of voters and are next only to Jatavs and the Yadavs, other dominant castes.

Census 2011 says the topmost share of individual castes in UP is of Jatavs at 12%, followed by Brahmins at 10%. After Uttarakhand and Himachal, UP has the third largest population of Brahmins in India.

In fact, the Brahmins of UP were traditionally Congress supporters with Govind Vallabh Pant, the first CM of the state, a stalwart. Congress decline in UP is often mapped alongside the Brahmin desertion of its ranks post the Mandal-Mandir politics. Congress’ last CM in UP - ND Tiwari - too was a Brahmin.

Since 1989, the Congress hasn’t seen power in the state.