“I have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the need to amend the Constitution to provide reservation to the poor among upper castes. We are still waiting for a response from him,” BSP supremo Mayawati told in a rally here.

Mayawati recalled she had also met the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee over the same issue.

She said her party was never against the upper castes and was concerned over the plight of the poor among them.“We will continue to fight for their rights and will strive hard to improve their lot,” Mayawati added.

Mayawati said the UPA government had also not responded to her letter demanding reservation for SCs and STs in the private sector. “In UP, we have have already announced 10 per cent reservation in private sector jobs for SCs and the poor among upper castes,” she said. Mayawati said her party would provide reservation to the poor among upper castes if it was voted to power at the Centre.

Urging people to vote her party to power in Jammu and Kashmir and at the Centre, she said, “BSP is a party of the poor, backwards and the downtrodden”.