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UPA may give ST status to Rajbhars
THE CONGRESS-LED United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is likely to announce a plan to include Rajbhars and other backward castes as ?Scheduled Tribe? on August 30. It is the main condition set by the lesser known political outfit ? Bharatiya Samajwadi Party (BSP) for sewing up an electoral alliance with Congress for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress, which is keen to regain political ground seems to be giving in to small political parties like the Bharatiya Samaj Party and the Samanta Dal just to gain their support for the coming Assembly polls.
Move to pave way for electoral truck between Congress, ‘BSP’
THE CONGRESS-LED United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is likely to announce a plan to include Rajbhars and other backward castes as ‘Scheduled Tribe’ on August 30. It is the main condition set by the lesser known political outfit — Bharatiya Samajwadi Party (BSP) for sewing up an electoral alliance with Congress for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress, which is keen to regain political ground seems to be giving in to small political parties like the Bharatiya Samaj Party and the Samanta Dal just to gain their support for the coming Assembly polls.
Though BSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has had many rounds of talks with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi since July 4 and discussed his demand threadbare for entering into an electoral alliance with his party. Sources said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has once again requested him to come over to New Delhi on August 30, so that the matter could be settled, paving the way for an electoral alliance with the BSP.
“I was assured that demand for inclusion of some castes in Scheduled Tribe category would be possibly announced on August 30 in the presence of some Cabinet ministers,” Om Prakash Rajbhar told the Hindustan Times on phone on Monday.
He said a joint rally of the Congress and the BSP has been finalised in which the electoral alliance between the two would be formally forged in presence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in Lucknow on October 30.
It may be mentioned as Congress, BSP and other small parties like Samanta Dal organised two political rallies at district Ghazipur and Sonebhadra in Eastern UP on Monday (August 28), Rajbhar disclosed his proposed meeting with Sonia Gandhi on August 30 on ST issue publicly. UPCC chief Salman Khursheed also addressed joint rallies in two districts on Monday.
The homework for granting ST status to some castes including Rajbhars had been done since July 4, the first meeting with the Congress chief followed by another such meeting on July 31. Besides, another meeting was held between Rajbhar and Rahul Gandhi on August 2.
“The meeting with Rahul Gandhi on August 2 created an impression in our minds that the Congress was seriously pursuing our demand and even Rahul favoured addressing some rallies organised by our party in Uttar Pradesh,” Om Prakash Rajbhar added.
Congress Party’s urgency in sewing an alliance with the BSP has assumed significance in view of BSP’s acceptability to other political parties like Bharatiya Janata Party, VP Singh’s Jan Morcha etc.
Rajbhar seems to have given up the demand for inclusion of 16 castes including Rajbhar, Chauhan, Malla, Prajapati, Kole, Bind, Kewat etc., as ST and settled for a few (which include Rajbhars) for bringing into ST category. He said he was happy that the work which even former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers, including ND Tiwari, Kalyan Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Rajnath Singh could not do, is likely to be done by Congress-led UPA government.
