Lucknow: The attitude of Apna Dal (S) national president and Union Minister Anupriya Patel has once again created a stir in the political corridors. Anupriya Patel, who attacked the Yogi Adityanath government, is now demanding a caste census.
This stance of Anupriya Patel is matching with the opposition parties including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. Now in such a situation, the question is arising that why Apna Dal, an old ally of BJP, is repeatedly showing rebellious attitude.
Apna Dal (S) is an old ally of BJP in Uttar Pradesh and reiterating the demand for caste census is being seen as a major development, as BJP is not seen taking any stand on it till now.
During the meeting of the state executive of the party, Anupriya said that the Center should conduct caste census, so that those people can get the benefit, for whom it is fixed.
At the same time, while talking to the media, Anupriya Patel also reiterated her demand to implement reservation in class IV jobs in the private sector.
Comparing the outsourcing system to cancer, she said, “Reservation is not followed in the appointments made to Class IV posts through outsourcing in the private sector. This harms the interests of candidates coming from the deprived sections of the society.”
Anupriya Patel is mainly targeting the Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh in the issues she has raised. On July 2, in a program organized on the occasion of the 75th birth anniversary of Apna Dal founder Sone Lal Patel, Anupriya Patel raised the issue of allegations of reservation irregularities in the 69,000 teacher recruitment.
She had said that the state government has not yet been able to correct the reservation irregularities in the 69,000 teacher recruitment, although she has raised this issue before the state government several times.
Earlier, after the Lok Sabha elections, she had written a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath and complained about the state government not selecting candidates from backward class, scheduled caste as well as tribal category for reserved posts where recruitment is based only on interviews. According to political experts, the letter sent by Anupriya Patel to the CM had two-pronged objectives, first, to try to woo those communities that have moved away from her party, and second, to gain some edge among Yogi’s opponents in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Apart from this, the Lok Sabha election results have indicated a change of allegiance among the Kurmis, a major component of the OBCs. The way a large part of OBC voters went with the India Alliance has created a big challenge for Apna Dal (S).
Anupriya Patel is also under a lot of pressure due to the dispersion of her traditional Kurmi vote. This is the reason why by raising the issue of reservation in government recruitments in UP, Anupriya Patel is trying to give the message that her party is the real well-wisher of the backward classes.
The way Anupriya Patel is attacking the Yogi government on the issue of reservation is being considered as pressure politics. Political analysts believe that the way Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is giving importance to Sirathu MLA and Anupriya Patel’s sister Pallavi Patel, the Union Minister is also very upset with it.
Apart from this, in view of the expansion of the state cabinet in place of two ministers who won in the Lok Sabha elections and the election for the vacant posts of MLC, Anupriya has started raising the issue of reservation so that pressure can be created on the state government. She has already been raising the issue of making one more minister from her quota in the state government. Now it remains to be seen how much Anupriya Patel’s stance benefits Apna Dal (S).
