With the State Congress facing flak from the Opposition parties like the BJP, UKD and others for giving nomination for the RS seat to Raj Babbar, an outsider, Samajwadi Party State president Satyanarayan Sachan defended the Congress, stating things should not be seen through a parochial prism.
Raj Babbar is an Indian and he deserved it on that count, he said, adding that as per the Constitution, one was free to contest Raj Sabha election from any part of the country.
Notably, actor Raj Babbar started his stint in politics through Samajwadi Party. He was elected member of the both houses of the Parliament thrice. He was suspended from Samajwadi Party in 2006. In 2008, he joined Congress.
Sachan said Raj Babbar as a politician was a product of Samajwadi Party. “We expect a lot from him. We are sure he would articulate the concerns of the minority communities. In case he is found wanting we would meet him to remind him of his role in safeguarding the interests of the minorities,” the SP leader said.
However, in the same breath, he slammed the Congress for not fielding a woman for the seat. It would have been better if the Congress leadership conferred the honour on one of the Statehood activists, he said.
He further said his party would stage Statewide protest at district headquarters in every district against the State Government’s anti-people policy. The party leaders would protest at district Collectorate and would submit a memorandum addressing the Governor through the office of the DMs concerned. Among their demands, the most important one would be immediate appointment of lokayukta to eradicate corruption that has eaten its way deep in the State, he said.
Reiterating his party’s stance on the reservation to the Statehood activists, Sachan said the State Government had violated the High Court ruling on the matter while dangling carrot of 10 per cent reservation to the statehood activists in the Government jobs. The High Court had earlier stated it was unconstitutional, he said.
The Government should bring a bill instead, providing 10 per cent reservation to all persons who belong to financially weaker sections of the society, he averred. He also trained his gun on the BJP-led Central Government for not allocating a single Cabinet berth to one of the five Uttarakhand MPs from the party.
SP will celebrate 105th birth anniversary of Dr Ram Manohar lohia on March 23 in all the districts of the State, he added.