The BJP, which has considerable upper caste support in Uttar Pradesh, has been promoting non-Yadav OBCs like its UP state chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, and Union Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal.

The BJP recently inducted former BSP national secretary Swamy Prasad Maurya in the party, and made another Maurya leader, Keshav Prasad Maurya, its state unit chief.

Mauryas, also called Kachhis, Kushwahas, Sainis and Shakyas, are Koeris, and numerically significant in eastern UP.