Opposition parties redraw strategy for LS elections
LUCKNOW: The move of the BJP led NDA government to grant 10% reservation for economically backward upper castes in government jobs and educational institutions has forced the rival political parties to redraw their strategy in Uttar Pradesh. The upper caste vote that constitutes 16% of the population in the state could be decisive in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Terming the quota for upper castes an election stunt and political gimmick, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has, however, welcomed the decision. She said the BSP would support the constitution amendment to pave way for reservation to the economically backward among the upper castes.
Demanding the implementation of quota in promotion for the SC/ST employees, Mayawati also said reservation provided to the SC/ST and the OBC should be increased in view of the rise in their population.
A BSP leader said the BSP chief was likely to visit Lucknow within a few days and discuss the strategy for the Lok Sabha elections with party leaders and office bearers. Along with the Dalits and the Backwards, the BSP was trying to win the support of the upper castes by fielding Brahmin and Rajput candidates on seats dominated by the upper caste voters. “The BSP will not oppose the upper caste quota but will also ensure that BJP does not get any mileage as well,” he said.
Welcoming the quota for upper castes, national general secretary of Samajwadi Party (SP) Ram Gopal said the government should give reservation to the OBCs according to their population. “The population of the backward castes in the state is 54% but they are getting merely 27% reservation in the government jobs,” he said.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too discussed the strategy for the Lok Sabha election with party leaders at the state unit office on Tuesday. An SP leader said the SP was working on the BackwardMuslim coalition to regain the lost ground in the coming Lok Sabha election.
“In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP managed to win the support of the upper caste
voters. Hence the SP chief will launch a campaign across the state to win the support of the upper castes while maintaining hold over party’s core voters,” he said.
The BSP and SP, which has decided to keep Congress out of the alliance in the state, feel the Congress will cut into the upper caste vote that is considered the traditional vote base of the BJP. “In the Gorahpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-poll, the Congress candidates got upper caste votes ensuring the defeat of the BJP,” the SP leader said.
Spokesperson of Congress Akhilesh Pratap Singh said Congress was in support of the quota for the upper castes in government jobs and educational institutions. “But the decision of the NDA government to bring the quota bill during the last days of the Parliament session raises question over its intention. The Congress will ensure that the BJP government does not alter the reservation for the SC/ST and the OBC. The Congress will expose the BJP by highlighting the fact that the BJP brought the quota Bill in haste merely to grab votes of the upper castes,” he said.
A political analyst AK Mishra said the BSP was working to build a rainbow coalition of the castes - Dalit- BackwardsMuslims -- with the Samajwadi Party to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. Aware of the anger brewing among the upper castes against the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the BSP and SP leaders were trying to woo the upper castes too by ensuring protection from the misuse of the Act, he said. The defeat in the by-polls on Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana Lok Sabha seats that
were considered the saffron brigade stronghold had shattered the BJP leaders, who were now trying to pacify the upper caste voters with the quota balm and counter the opposition as well, Mishra said.
Former head of Sociology Department in Lucknow University Rajesh Kumar Mishra said the BJP stood to gain with upper caste quota but it remained to be seen how the BJP leaders managed to counter the fear among the dalits and backwards that their quota might be diluted.
Leader of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is alliance partner of BJP government in the state, said the pressure on the BJP government here will increase to implement the report of the social justice committee for division of reservation among the extremely weaker sections in the SC and the OBC. If the BJP failed to implement the report it would face backlash of the community in the Lok Sabha elections, he added.
Independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, who has launched Jansatta Party, demanded reservation for the upper castes and condemnded the SC-ST Act.