BJP ally and UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar surrendered his backward class development portfolio on Thursday after differences with the Yogi Adityanath government over OBC quota.
He said his recommendations for appointment of state backward class panel members have been ignored. Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) is an ally of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.
Rajbhar said he would hand over the charge of the backward class welfare department to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Rajbhar said he would, however, continue to be in charge of the empowerment of persons with disabilities department.
“A list was prepared, and names of 28 persons were proposed by us for the UP State Commission for Backward Classes. After the file reached the chief minister’s office, we came to know that names of 27 people are missing. Chairman, vice-chairman were arbitrarily made,” Rajbhar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The committee had recommended division of backward castes in three categories backward, very backward and most backward.
Rajbhar had threatened that his party would snap ties with the NDA and announce candidates on all 80 parliamentary seats in the state if 27% reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) was not subdivided in three categories by February 24.
He had said the BJP blamed the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for not giving quota within the OBC quota, but the ruling party too was taking the same route.
First Published: Feb 14, 2019 15:05 IST
Source: HindustanTimes