Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati urged the government for a separate Census of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and said that if the Centre initiated any step in this direction her party would back it in the legislature.
On Friday, the BSP leader tweeted, “The BSP has been demanding for a separate Census of the OBCs for a long time and it continues to be our demand. If the Union government takes any positive step in this, then the BSP will definitely support it both inside and outside Parliament.”
The Central government's decision to offer Other Backward Classes 27 per cent and economically weaker sections (EWS) 10 per cent reservations in the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) is politically significant. The groundwork for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has been laid and the Centre has attempted to please both the backward and higher castes at the same time. This is why, while a national party like Congress is still preaching about imperfect social justice, those parties that were ahead of the curb in pursuing backward caste politics rose to prominence significantly.
According to the Social Justice Committee's study, the number of backward castes in Uttar Pradesh's population is around 54 per cent. Although it has a big Muslim population, such as Teli and Julaha, it still has a large number of Hindu backward castes.
Meanwhile, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra said that the Brahmin community would vote for his party in the 2022 assembly elections and accused the Yogi Adityanath government of not respecting the community.
Speaking at a programme organised by an electronic channel on Friday, Mishra said that Brahmins were coming out in support of the BSP in large numbers.
"The way Brahmins are coming out to support us, there will be a historic change, and we will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh with a majority," Mishra said exuding confidence.
Invoking Brahmin community's contribution in the BSP's victory in the 2007 UP Assembly elections, the BSP heavyweight said, "Eighty per cent people from the Brahmin community supported the BSP in 2007 because Mayawati had assured to take all communities along, irrespective of minority or backward classes. The community, which had supported the BSP back then, was given party tickets in large numbers. This way, we supported them and they supported us. But later, they were enticed in the name of religion and supported the Bharatiya Janata Party."
Accusing the BJP government of not respecting Brahmins in the state, Mishra said, "They were respected back then during the BSP regime. But now, people are being stopped, quizzed about their names and if they turn out to be Brahmins, they are shot or thrashed as per the present regime’s policy."