It has been a meteoric rise for Anupriya Patel, who took oath as minister in Narendra Modi’s council of ministers, drawing a parallel with Smriti Irani when she was handpicked as cabinet minister by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the historic win in 2014. BJP has bigger plans for the Mirzapur MP in their bid for the throne of Lucknow next year, which could conversely affect the fortunes of HRD minister, Smriti Irani, who was hoping for a crucial role in the Uttar Pradesh election campaign.

Anupriya’s late father, Sonelal Patel, who worked with BSP founder, Kanshiram, left to form his own outfit in 1994 when Mayawati took over. After the untimely death of her father in 2009, Anupriya worked closely with her mother to strengthen her father’s outfit, Apna Dal, which has pockets of influence in eastern UP, especially Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Varanasi, Robertsganj, and Mirzapur districts.

The 35-year-old graduated from Lady Shri Ram College and went on to do her MBA before contesting the 2012 assembly elections, winning the Rohaniya seat on Apna Dal ticket. Rohaniya is an assembly segment in Modi’s Lok Sabha seat of Varanasi. Anupriya was instrumental in BJP-Apna Dal tie-up before the 2014 general election; her party won both the seats it contested from Mirzapur and Pratapgarh.

Anupriya Patel takes oath as new MoS in the Modi Cabinet #ModiCabinetRejig pic.twitter.com/teBItUEznO — TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 5, 2016

Anupriya’s mother, Krishna, who is also party president, has been upset with her daughter cosying up to BJP. Krishna’s loss in the 2014 Rohaniya bye-election also added to their differences before Anupriya was expelled from the party last year. Despite the setback, Anupriya commands loyalty from a sizeable section of Apna Dal and she is in advanced stage of talks for merging the outfit with BJP before the assembly elections.

Happening now: Anupriya Patel takes oath as Cabinet ministerhttps://t.co/CjI0fIQKzD #ModiCabinet pic.twitter.com/56ZaEGoH3G — Times of India (@timesofindia) July 5, 2016

She is young, articulate, and has OBC credentials that BJP is hoping to use extensively in their campaign for an election being billed as the semi-final before the 2019 general election. The addition of a known Kurmi face in Anupriya will help BJP counter Beni Prasad Verma, who has gone back to Samajwadi Party. She will also be crucial in neutralising ambitions of Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, who has been making visits to eastern UP.

#ModiCabinet reshuffle: Anupriya Patel, the Apna Dal leader BJP is banking on for UPhttps://t.co/60k7MghnWx — The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) July 5, 2016

Anupriya’s entry also puts a question mark on the role of HRD minister, Smriti Irani, in BJP’s scheme of things. Unlike Anupriya, she is considered an outsider in UP politics with no caste or social base support. Her brush with electoral politics has so far been limited to Rahul Gandhi’s constituency of Amethi. Anupriya’s ascendance in UP’s political arena seems to indicate that she is likely to take on the mantle that many believed was headed Smriti Irani’s way.