The Times of India News Service

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader and leader of opposition in Vidhan Parishad Ahmad Hasan said here on Saturday that it was out of frustration that the BJP was now talking about reservation for the most backward and most Dalit communities. He said that they never thought about these communities during their four-and-a-half-year rule.

Talking to newspersons, he said that the BJP had adopted this strategy because of the infighting in the party. He asserted that since OBCs in the BJP were feeling suffocated due to the step-motherly treatment being accorded to them, the chief minister was trying to create confusion among them by appointing a committee to recommend reservation for most backwards and most Dalits. He alleged that this was also being done to marginalise BJP minister Om Prakash Singh, who belonged to the backward community and who was so much disgruntled that he was not even attending the Cabinet meetings. He said that the SP had been demanding for quite some time 54 per cent reservation for OBCs, on the basis of their population.

Hasan claimed that such gimmicks were not going to affect the Samajwadi Party since OBCs were standing solidly behind it. He also claimed that the mass support of the SP had increased and other castes were also coming to its folds. The victory of SP candidate in Shahjahanpur was an example of it. He further claimed that under the present scenario, his party was sure to get clear majority in the next Vidhan Sabha. He ridiculed the statements of BJP leaders that they did not want to make Ayodhya an election issue.

He said that the BSP had been winning some seats with Muslim support but this time its graph would go down substantially as Muslims were not going to be befooled by it any more. He asserted that despite their public assertions against any alliance, BSP and BJP were already secretly discussing the seat adjustments.