Raghuraj Pratap Singh floats new party
LUCKNOW : Independent lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya on Friday announced the formation of his new party and questioned amendments to the SC/ST Act and promotion in reservation. Singh said ‘Jansatta Party’ could be the name of his political outfit as the EC had not allotted the name to anyone yet.
LUCKNOW: Independent lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya on Friday announced the formation of his new party and questioned amendments to the SC/ST Act and promotion in reservation.
Singh, 49, who has completed 25 years in politics, has been a minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) governments while remaining an independent MLA.
He had won assembly elections from Kunda seat in Pratapgarh in 1993, 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017. Considered a powerful Thakur leader, Singh is set to showcase his support base by holding a rally in Lucknow on November 30. Singh said ‘Jansatta Party’ could be the name of his political outfit as the Election Commission had not allotted the name to anyone yet.
He criticised the SC/ST Act, especially the provision backed by the Narendra Modi government that calls for immediate arrest on a complaint by a Dalit, but quickly made it clear that he was not against Prime Minister Narendra Modi or chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
“I have merely raised issues that many politicians and lawmakers discuss on the sly but shy away from raising them in public. We aren’t against Dalits. But the amendment to the SC/ST Act kills the principle of natural justice. Similarly, we are opposed to promotion in reservation as it gives priority to caste over merit,” the lawmaker said.
Singh also supported the introduction of creamy layer system in reservation saying there was no reason to extend reservation to Dalits who had risen in life and social standing.
He, however, skirted a direct reply when asked if he would support the BJP or the opposition – both of whom have been silent on issues raised by him largely due to the importance of Dalits in elections.
Dalits, accounting for 200 million of the country’s 1.3 billon people, have a strong presence in UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
When asked if he would ally with the BJP or the opposition parties, he said: “This question should be asked to other political groups as to what they think of the issues raised by me.”
According to political observers, Singh’s move is a clever posturing ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has clearly indicated that he would stitch a pre-poll political arrangement with Singh bête noire and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.
Political analyst and director of GB Pant Social Science Institute Prof Badri Narayan said, “Singh has a good support among upper castes and the stand taken by him on the SC/ST Act may hurt the BJP.”
During the Rajya Sabha and MLC elections in March, Singh had tweeted that his support for Akhilesh Yadav shouldn’t be construed as support to the BSP.
Akhilesh, who was supporting a BSP candidate to defeat the BJP, had later withdrawn his tweet thanking Singh for his support in the elections after Mayawati held a press conference to announce that Akhilesh could be “cheated” by the Kunda MLA.
Singh evaded a direct reply when pressed for a response on popular perception that he had the backing of BJP which wants to use him to garner the support of upper castes angered by the party’s overtures to Dalits.
“I don’t know any of that. All I know is that there won’t be any compromise on the core issues raised today,” he said.
“I reiterate that I am not against Dalits. But why is it that there is discrimination in rape of a Dalit and a non-Dalit woman? The Dalit victim or her family is compensated, the non-Dalit isn’t. Similarly, if a Dalit is murdered, the family gets Rs 8.4 lakh compensation, a non-Dalit gets nothing. If all are same then why this discrimination,” he asked.
Meanwhile, both the BJP and the SP played safe on Singh’s announcements.
“Anyone is free to form a party and raise issues they feel close to,” said BJP leader Harish Srivastava.
SP’s Anurag Bhadauria said it was too early to presume who would side with whom in Lok Sabha elections.