UP govt walks a good rope over caste census amid Opposition strain

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Amid the vociferous demand by the opposition led by Samajwadi Party (SP) to carry a caste census in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath authorities appears to be strolling on a tightrope over the difficulty calling it a Centre’s prerogative.

Not solely the principle opposition SP but in addition the smaller outfits like OP Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Keshav Dev Maurya-led Mahan Dal and Babu Singh Kushwaha-led Janadhikar Party together with BJP allies together with Sanjay Nishad’s Nishad Party and Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (S) have been demanding it. However, BSP and RLD have but to clear their stand on the difficulty.

On the opposite, the BJP has been observing a discreet silence over the difficulty contemplating its bigger ramifications, particularly, in a risky state like UP the place caste performs an important position in successful elections.

Moreover, ‘Hindutva’ being the core of BJP’s politics whereby it stresses on the unity of Hindus as a substitute of caste division, any such train would hamper its purpose of mobilizing the Hindus as one unit with the massive battle of 2024 only a yr away.

It is for a similar cause that the ruling occasion is seemingly in a dilemma over the caste census which is already in progress in neighbouring Bihar.

UP has over 75 different backward castes (OBC) and 66 scheduled castes (SC) and different sub-castes. Only a selected few like Yadav, Kurmi, Lodh, Rajbhar, Maurya, and Kushwaha amongst OBCs, and Jatav, Pasi, and Valmiki amongst SCs are having fun with the lion’s share of political energy, financial assets, and authorities jobs.

During the continued funds session of the UP Assembly, SP chief, and Leader of the opposition, Akhilesh Yadav reiterated the demand for a caste census on the meeting ground on February 23. He put the ruling occasion in a good spot by asking the treasury benches to come back clear on their stand over the difficulty.

“If Bihar can have a caste census, why can’t we? Our party had promised that if voted to power, we will complete the caste census within three months,” stated Akhilesh.

Responding to him, UP Agriculture minister and BJP MLA from Pathardeva in Deoria, known as it the prerogative of the Union authorities because it was the topic listed at quantity 69 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

“The Union Government has enacted the Census Act, 1948, and Census Rules, 1990. The subject of holding a census is within the purview of the Centre, not the state,” stated the minister however the opposition remained agency on its demand.

While the BJP allies together with NISAHD occasion and Apna Dal (Sonelal) together with SBSP questioned the SP authorities’s ‘inaction’ over the difficulty throughout its rule if Akhilesh was involved in regards to the distribution of assets amongst castes as per their illustration.

Besides the opposition, one of the outstanding OBC faces of the ruling occasion in UP, Deputy CM Keshav Maurya ruffled many feathers by backing the caste census demand early final month. It is a transfer, in accordance with political consultants, as a ploy to scuttle the opposition’s plan to nook the ruling occasion on the difficulty.

However, a fortnight later, Keshav Maurya junked the opposition demand calling it a mere ‘dhong’ (pretence) forward of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“They played ‘Mauni baba’ when in power, now raising the demand to gain political mileage which would not come true,” stated the UP Deputy CM.

He had even challenged SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to nominate an individual from another caste as his occasion chief to manifest his intent in direction of caste justice.

If the BJP insiders are to be believed, given his caste credentials, Maurya was requested by the occasion brass to rebuke the opposition over the difficulty because the SP had deliberate a 10-day marketing campaign over the difficulty from February 24 on the grass root stage.

“The ruling party is walking a tight rope on caste census issue as it has strived to take the backward communities and Dalits along with the upper castes scrupulously under the umbrella of Hindutva in the recent years,” says political scientist Prof AK Mishra of Lucknow University.

In its first time period, the Yogi authorities had undertaken a ‘samajik nyay (social justice)’ survey although the survey committee report, which outlined extra illustration for lesser-represented Dalit and OBC teams, has but to be applied.

LUCKNOW: Amid the vociferous demand by the opposition led by Samajwadi Party (SP) to carry a caste census in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath authorities appears to be strolling on a tightrope over the difficulty calling it a Centre’s prerogative.

Not solely the principle opposition SP but in addition the smaller outfits like OP Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Keshav Dev Maurya-led Mahan Dal and Babu Singh Kushwaha-led Janadhikar Party together with BJP allies together with Sanjay Nishad’s Nishad Party and Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (S) have been demanding it. However, BSP and RLD have but to clear their stand on the difficulty.

On the opposite, the BJP has been observing a discreet silence over the difficulty contemplating its bigger ramifications, particularly, in a risky state like UP the place caste performs an important position in successful elections.googletag.cmd.push(operate() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

Moreover, ‘Hindutva’ being the core of BJP’s politics whereby it stresses on the unity of Hindus as a substitute of caste division, any such train would hamper its purpose of mobilizing the Hindus as one unit with the massive battle of 2024 only a yr away.

It is for a similar cause that the ruling occasion is seemingly in a dilemma over the caste census which is already in progress in neighbouring Bihar.

UP has over 75 different backward castes (OBC) and 66 scheduled castes (SC) and different sub-castes. Only a selected few like Yadav, Kurmi, Lodh, Rajbhar, Maurya, and Kushwaha amongst OBCs, and Jatav, Pasi, and Valmiki amongst SCs are having fun with the lion’s share of political energy, financial assets, and authorities jobs.

During the continued funds session of the UP Assembly, SP chief, and Leader of the opposition, Akhilesh Yadav reiterated the demand for a caste census on the meeting ground on February 23. He put the ruling occasion in a good spot by asking the treasury benches to come back clear on their stand over the difficulty.

“If Bihar can have a caste census, why can’t we? Our party had promised that if voted to power, we will complete the caste census within three months,” stated Akhilesh.

Responding to him, UP Agriculture minister and BJP MLA from Pathardeva in Deoria, known as it the prerogative of the Union authorities because it was the topic listed at quantity 69 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

“The Union Government has enacted the Census Act, 1948, and Census Rules, 1990. The subject of holding a census is within the purview of the Centre, not the state,” stated the minister however the opposition remained agency on its demand.

While the BJP allies together with NISAHD occasion and Apna Dal (Sonelal) together with SBSP questioned the SP authorities’s ‘inaction’ over the difficulty throughout its rule if Akhilesh was involved in regards to the distribution of assets amongst castes as per their illustration.

Besides the opposition, one of the outstanding OBC faces of the ruling occasion in UP, Deputy CM Keshav Maurya ruffled many feathers by backing the caste census demand early final month. It is a transfer, in accordance with political consultants, as a ploy to scuttle the opposition’s plan to nook the ruling occasion on the difficulty.

However, a fortnight later, Keshav Maurya junked the opposition demand calling it a mere ‘dhong’ (pretence) forward of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“They played ‘Mauni baba’ when in power, now raising the demand to gain political mileage which would not come true,” stated the UP Deputy CM.

He had even challenged SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to nominate an individual from another caste as his occasion chief to manifest his intent in direction of caste justice.

If the BJP insiders are to be believed, given his caste credentials, Maurya was requested by the occasion brass to rebuke the opposition over the difficulty because the SP had deliberate a 10-day marketing campaign over the difficulty from February 24 on the grass root stage.

“The ruling party is walking a tight rope on caste census issue as it has strived to take the backward communities and Dalits along with the upper castes scrupulously under the umbrella of Hindutva in the recent years,” says political scientist Prof AK Mishra of Lucknow University.

In its first time period, the Yogi authorities had undertaken a ‘samajik nyay (social justice)’ survey although the survey committee report, which outlined extra illustration for lesser-represented Dalit and OBC teams, has but to be applied.