Yogi mulls reservation for 'Mahadalits, MBC' in UP

Wary of the Samajwaadi Party (SP)-BSP combine following humiliating defeats in the recent by-polls in Phulpur and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituencies, the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is considering to provide reservations to the 'Mahadalits' and 'Most Backward Communities' (MBC).

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said in the State Assembly on Thursday that the government could consider reservations for these communities if needed.

''The demand for reservation by these communities, who really require it, has been ignored by successive governments,'' Adityanath said while making his reply on the general budget.

He said that the government would soon constitute a high-level committee to look into the issue and submit a report.

Former UP chief minister and the present union home minister Rajnath Singh had also proposed a similar reservation in 2002 but it had been scrapped by the court.

According to the sources in the BJP, the main objective behind the move was to counter the SP-BSP combine in the next Lok Sabha polls in 2019. ''It will dent the vote banks of BSP supremo Mayawati and also galvanise the non-yadav OBC votes in our favour,'' remarked a senior BJP leader here.

The Opposition parties, however, sought to portray the move as a proof of the ruling party's wariness. ''BJP knows that such a decision can never be implemented....it is only trying to misguide the people and win their votes as it has now realised that its days are numbered,'' said a senior SP leader here while speaking to Deccan Herald.