BJP alliance partners in Uttar Pradesh struck a different tune on the issue of reservation for the poor among the upper castes.
The Apna Dal (AD) and Sheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) said on Monday that the move to give 10% reservation to the poor among the upper castes was intended to create differences and acrimony among the backward castes.
"It is nothing but an election stunt...when the Supreme Court has fixed a ceiling of 50% on reservations, how will the government give fresh reservations...it is a ploy to garner votes of the upper castes in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls," said SBSP president and UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar here.
Union minister and AD leader Anupriya Patel also said that the government should not give reservations without conducting a caste census. "Any decision on reservation should be taken only after the caste census," she said here.
Published 07 January 2019, 19:23 IST