Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Saturday accused the state government of bringing up communal issues whenever he talks about matters of governance, ANI reported. The minister, who leads the ruling coalition partner Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, also threatened to quit the Adityanath cabinet.
“I am in two minds about the Bharatiya Janata Party,” said Rajbhar. “Whenever I talk about giving the poor its rightful share, they start talking about mosques and temples, about Hindus and Muslims.”
Rajbhar accused the state government of not even allowing his party to set up a state office, and said he was ready to resign immediately. “I have not come here for a taste of power, I am here to fight for the cause of the poor,” he said. “So, should I do that or remain a slave of the BJP?”
The minister for welfare of the backward classes was speaking at his party’s 16th foundation day rally in Lucknow. When he asked the people at the rally if he should resign, they asked him to not quit, reported the Hindustan Times.
Along with party colleague Shashi Pratap Singh, Rajbhar accused the BJP of cheating the backward and the most backward classes. “BJP chief Amit Shah had promised to make efforts to provide 54% reservation to backward classes but he didn’t honour his promise,” said Rajbhar. “BJP people want votes of OBCs [Other Backward Classes], but don’t want to do anything beyond lip service for them.”
However, BJP spokesperson Chandra Mohan said that the party had “done a lot” for people from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the OBCs. “There is no point reacting to individual claims,” he said.
Last week, Rajbhar had threatened the BJP of a public backlash in the Lok Sabha elections unless it set up a reservation policy for the backward classes, NDTV reported. He also questioned why the state government allocated a bungalow to estranged Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav.
Rajbhar has often criticised the BJP government in the Uttar Pradesh. In April, he accused Chief Minister Adityanath of “ignoring MLAs” and his officers of mistreating the state’s legislators. He had threatened to pull his party out of the alliance then as well.
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