After the Centre opposed the move of Yogi Adityanath government to provide Scheduled Caste status to 17 communities of Other Backward Classes, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar accused the Uttar Pradesh government of “fooling” people, as the matter is still sub-judice.

The former minister posted in micro-blogging site Twitter, ‘’Will the UP government clarify further on the benefits that OBCs will get after the order issuing SC certificates to 17 communities of the OBCs?” 

‘’When the matter is still sub-judice in court, why is the government fooling people by issuing certificates in a way that is unconstitutional? Also, the government is opening recruitment in various departments. They should first clarify if these OBCs will get quota under OBC or SC?’’

Earlier, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had attacked the state government over the issue and said, ‘’It’s a fraud with people of these 17 castes, as they won’t receive benefits of any category. The UP government will not treat them as OBCs. They won’t receive the benefits of SC, as no state government can put them in or remove them from any of the categories, through its order.’’ 

On Tuesday, the Centre declared that the decision of UP government of issuing Scheduled Caste certificates to 17 communities belonging to OBCs was “unconstitutional}. 

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thawar Chand Gehlot, assured the Rajya Sabha that he would request the UP government to roll back its decision since it had been declared invalid by a court of law. 

Although a day has passed after the Union minister’s announcement in Parliament, the UP government is yet to respond.

None of the UP government spokespersons or officials came forth with any reaction on the Union Minister’s objection.

Earlier, the UP government had decided to implement a 2017 order of the Allahabad High Court to issue SC certificates to 17 communities of the OBCs in the state. The government directed district magistrates to issue SC certificates to OBCs listed by it till the High Court took a final call. 

The demand for SC status to 17 castes — Kashyap, Rajbhar, Dhivar, Bind, Kumar, Kahar, Kewat, Nishad, Bhar, Mallah, Prajapati, Dhivar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjul and Madhua, has been pending for a long time.

In 2006, as Chief Minister of UP, Mulayam Singh Yadav had first tried to implement the order. Later during her 2007-12 regime, Mayawati had tried to pursue the issue but it was vetoed by the Centre.