Politics

Akhilesh Yadav pitches for caste census in UP; tries to get support of BJP allies

Published

1 month ago

February 24, 2023

Opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav has raised the pitch for a caste census in the UP assembly and tried to drum up support for it from parties close to BJP and its allies.Political observers see SP’s intensification of its demand for a caste census as an effort to revive the politics of social justice before the 2024 elections. The party has begun block-level campaign, starting with Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Prayagraj, Mirzapur and Bhadohi districts, where workers will meet with people from Backward Classes and raise awareness on the importance of holding a caste census.

“All of us in the Opposition want a caste census. Without caste census ‘sabka saath’ is incomplete. How will ‘sabka saath’ happen when you don’t know how many of us (castes) are there in the population? How will you win everybody’s trust? And there will not be ‘prayaas’ by everyone, the country will not move forward,” Yadav said, alluding to BJP’s election slogan, while participating in a debate in the assembly.

Yadav then turned to SBSP chief OP Rajbhar – who broke the alliance with SP and joined hands with BJP after last year’s assembly elections – and BJP ally Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad, to ask if they favoured a caste census. Rajbhar replied in the affirmative but quipped that Yadav had separated him from his party. Nishad on the other hand reiterated his demand to shift certain OBCs to the SC category and said contradictions should be done away with. Yadav humorously answered, “he (Nishad) may be with them, but in his heart, he is with us.” He added that he was of the opinion that even the Apna Dal (S), another BJP ally, also wanted a caste census to be held.

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Politics

AAP posters against PM Modi; raises slogan like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao”

Published

9 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched a nationwide poster campaign with slogans like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao” in 22 states, said AAP’s state convener Gopal Rai on Thursday.Gopal Rai also alleged at a press conference that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is engaged in ending the country’s democratic systems instead of fixing the education-health system and removing unemployment.

Posters in Hindi, English and all other regional languages are being put up in 22 states across the country. Rai said that from April 10, similar posters would be put up at universities across the nation to make students aware about the campaign.

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Politics

HC disqualifies JDS D C Gowrishankar Swamy legislator

Published

9 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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JDS MLA from Tumakuru Rural constituency in Karnataka D C Gowrishankar Swamy was disqualified by the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday in a case relating to alleged electoral malpractice. The Court, however, kept the disqualification in suspension for one month, allowing Swamy to file an appeal in the Supreme Court. A single-judge bench of the high court was delivering its verdict on a petition filed by defeated BJP candidate B Suresh Gowda, which alleged electoral malpractice by Swamy for distributing fake insurance bonds to voters during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election.

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Politics

BJP steps up OBC outreach to sway Nitish Kumar’s Luv-Kush base

Published

9 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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The BJP has upped its game in Bihar by stepping up its OBC outreach, especially among Kushwahas, one of the two castes of Nitish Kumar‘s Luv-Kush vote base, and has appointed PM Modi’s key aides to look after its work in the state.The BJP is going to celebrate Emperor Ashok’s birth anniversary on April 2 in Sasaram, which will be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This comes days after BJP appointed Samrat Choudhary as its Bihar unit president, who is also a Khushwaha. The community sees Ashoka as their ancestor.

Luv-Kush is the alliance between the Kurmi and Koeri castes, which together constitute approximately 15 % of the state population. Nitish Kumar a Kurmi himself, had garnered the support of this caste alliance, to take on the Muslim-Yadav alliance of his once staunch rival Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“The BJP is organising a big public programme to mark the birth anniversary of Samrat Ashoka, whom Khushwahas see as their ancestor. Now, the Luv-Kush alliance whom Kumar treated as his bonded labourers, will now go with BJP, worshippers of Lord Ram,” Choudhary told ET.He said the genesis of Luv-kush alliance was to counter Yadav’s politics of appeasement.

Meanwhile, the BJP has appointed a new co-incharge for Bihar, Sunil Ojha from Gujarat who worked closely with the prime minister and was looking after the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a region comprising Modi’s constituency Varanasi.

With Ojha’s appointment, there will be two key BJP functionaries — he and Bhikhubhai Dalsaniya, organisational secretary for BJP’s state unit — both from Gujarat and have worked with Modi for many years since his days as Gujarat chief minister. Ojha was relocated to Varanasi from Gujarat and registered as a voter from Modi’s constituency in 2018.”I was handling the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which borders Bihar. So, the demography and social structure in both regions is the same,” Ojha told ET. Ojha’s appointment also came days after the appointment of the new state unit chief.

Bihar has always been an uphill task for the BJP dispensation, and has constantly been posing challenges for the party.

Now, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has redrawn its strategy with new state unit chief and incharges. The coming together of the JD(U) with RJD after parting ways with the BJP, poses a serious challenge for the BJP, as these two parties make caste equations unfavourable for the BJP.

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