Taking the political battle to a new level Samajwadi Party claimed that a Thakur and a backward leader in Bharatiya Janata Party have sidelined Brahmins in the party resulting in resentment across the state for which the party will have to pay dearly in the forthcoming lok Sabha election.
"It is shame that top Brahmin leaders in BJP like Kalraj Mishra, Murli Manohar Joshi and Keshri Nath Tripathi have been given a raw deal by party president Rajnath Singh - a thakur - and party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi - a backward depriving Brahmins of their pride," state Agriculture Minister and senior SP leader Manoj Kumar Pandey told reporters here on Monday.
He said the BJP will have to pay dearly for sidelining Brahmin leaders in the party who have a vast following in the state. "Can anyone justify change of seat for Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalraj Mishra. Joshi is sitting MP from Varanasi and because Modi needs a winnable seat for him so he displaced Joshi," Pandey said.
"Ditto is the case with Kalraj Mishra. He party leadership had earlier asked him to prepare for Kanpur seat but later shifted him to Deoria where he is facing the wrath of his own party colleagues," Pandey said and added that party denying ticket to Keshari Nath Tripathi in Allahabad was again a clear message BJP had sent to Brahmins.
Pandey, who is the state president of Samajwadi Party Prabuddha Sabha, the party's intellectual wing, said though it was internal matter of BJP, he was pained at the insult of senior leaders in the party. "Brahmins have noticed this and will give a reply to the party in this election," he said.
It is not only Samajwadi Party even the Congress has raised this issue of neglect of Brahmins in the BJP. The Congress had even made a twitter handle #brahminmuktbhajpa to rub BJP on the wrong side.
Pandey said that only Samajwadi Party is the real saviour of Brahmins. He said the Akhilesh Yadav government was reviewing all the cases lodged against the Brahmins in the previous regime. ''Chief Minister has asked law Secretary to review all the cases of SC/ST Act registered against Brahmins and these should be withdrawn as per the rules," Pandey said.
The minister said that he will also hold rallies in western Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand regions.
When asked about BJP’s Har Har Modi slogan Pandey said equating Modi with 'Mahadev' (lord Shiva) was not justified. "Religion should be kept out of politics," he said.