UP chief minister should be from the backward caste, says Sakshi Maharaj

Following the completion of Modi government's two years in power, political parties of Uttar Pradesh have begun gearing up for the Assembly elections in 2017. Although, the faces of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party's chief ministerial candidates are clear, the Bharatiya Janta Party is yet to arrive on a likely candidate's name who could be projected as the forthcoming chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the sources, over half dozen names are being discussed by the party high command, but the most prominent name rising in this crowd is that of Union HRD minister Smriti Irani.

Who will be the new CM of UP?

When India Today asked BJP MP Sacchidanand Hari Sakshi Maharaj in Mathura, he was of the opinion that any chief minister in Uttar Pradesh should be from the backward caste and being young and local would be added qualities in such candidate.

Union Food Minister Sadhwi Niranjana said that the chief ministerial candidate projected by the party high command will be the unanimous choice of the party. Asked about the likely candidature of Smriti Irani, she said that Irani has been involved with the politics of Uttar Pradesh for a long time and the opposition parties are scared of the way she wards off any slurs thrown at her. She said that Smriti is a native of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and would be a good choice for the chief minister of this states.

Asked about her comments on UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's letter to the Prime Minister demanding reservation for Muslims, she counter questioned that why did Samajwadi Party remember the Muslim reservation issue in the last year of its tenure? She said that the party has played the Muslim card keeping in view the forthcoming UP elections and this reservation will remain a political gimmick. She said that the Constitution of India does not allow reservation according to religion and it has never been awarded to any community, neither will it be given to anyone now.

Talking to India Today, Sami Agai, chairman of Bharatiya Muslim Vikas Parishad said that if the BJP declares a Muslim name as the chief minister, it will go a long way towards establishing the trust of Muslims in Modi's government. He said that the Samajwadi Party sent seven people in the Rajya Sabha, but none of them was Muslim.

"If the party could not abide by the reservation quota in its internal structure, how could it expect the entire country to accept Muslim reservation?" asked Sami Agai