Yogi government in UP seems to have hit the bull’s eye
Lucknow,July 02(HS)The Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has hit BSP chief Maywati where it hurts most.It has made a serious attempt to woo Dalits who form her vote-base and can make or mar her prospects.The time is also unsuitable to her.Assembly by-elections are to be held shortly in the state and these by-polls are crucial for her for more reasons than one.
Expectedly, she is quite angry with the government and has made an unsparing attack.It is a “big fraud” committed by the government,she angrily said a day ago, on Monday.
Digging into the archives, makes some new revelations.What state chief minister Yogi Adityanath has done is not something new.It was the SP government in the state led by Mulayam Singh Yadav which had first decided to include 17 other backward castes in the list of scheduled castes( Dalit).
His aim could be the same– to wean away Dalits and weaken Mayawati .It was done during the second party government in the state between 2004 and 2007.A fresh bid was made in 2012 when the party formed the third government in UP.
The first attempt was foiled by the Allahabad High Court which called the order unconstitutional and therefore held it null and void.It was done on the ground that no prior consent was taken from the Centre. Turning wise,the next party government, wrote to the Centre before considering the issue again.The proposal was not acceptable to the Congress-led government.
The Constitution has given powers to it to in this regard. Artcile 341 of the Constitution which specifically deals with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has two provisions.Clause one says,the President may, with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be.
Clause two says, Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause ( 1 ) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid, a notification issued under the said clause, shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.
Mayawati is worried more because the BJP has party governments both at the Centre and in the state unlike 2012 when the SP had approached New Delhi.Also because the BJP has an absolute majority on its its own in the Lok Sabha and will be only six short in the Rajya Sabha next week.The non-allies supporting the move may fill the gap.
Inquiries reveal that the BSP is mainly opposed to inclusion of new castes in the list because it will eat into the present SC quota (21 per cent).It may support the move if quota is raised.
The BJP hopes to make two gains.While it hopes to get support of the additional castes which will enjoy the benefits of scheduled castes,it also hopes to get support from remaining backward castes which will find more space under the quota system in absence of these castes.
The 17 castes which the state government has proposed to add to SC list include Rajbhar,Nishad(boatman) and Prajapati (potter).Some of these castes have been agitating for fulfillment of
