Accusing BJP chief Rajnath Singh of pitching backward castes against each other during his tenure as UP Chief Minister, Samajwadi Party today said that if he was their well wisher then BJP should join the party in the struggle to include 17 backward castes in Scheduled Castes.
Speaking to reporters here, senior Samajwadi Party leader and state minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati also questioned as to what efforts had been made by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for the backward castes including Bind, Kashyap and Nishad in his state, Gujarat.
"During his regime as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath tried to pitch backward castes against each other," Prajapati alleged while talking to the reporters here.
He said that during his tenure, Rajnath made a provision of quota within the quota for most backward castes out of the reservation earmarked for them.
Prajapati alleged that his intention was not to give rights to the most backwards, but to "divide" them.
He said if BJP really wants to provide the most backwards their rights, then it should support SP which has taken up cause related to their inclusion in the list of the Scheduled Castes with the Centre.
His comments came a day ahead of Samajwadi Party's campaign starting tomorrow to woo the backward castes when two rath yatras will be flagged off from party's office here.
The minister also asked Modi to tell what has he done for 17 backward castes including Bind, Kashyap and Nishad in his state. He said there was no competition between Modi and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, as the former had been blamed for his "role" in the Gujarat riots.
Prajapati alleged that BJP, Congress and BSP do not want to get 17 most backward castes in scheduled caste, adding that in October 2005, the then CM Mulayam included 17 MBCs in SC category, but Mayawati abolished it after she came to power in 2007.
SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said that the yatras would pass through Sultanpur, Varanasi, Ballia, Mau, Faizabad, Basti, Gorakhpur, Deoria and complete the first phase at Azamgarh on October 29 by participating in "Desh Bachao Desh Banao" rally.
