The Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates for the Legislative Council bypoll to be held on May 29, wrote an open letter on May 24 to backward classes leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its allies and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar requesting their votes in favour of themselves for the sake of social justice.
Candidates Ram Jatan Rajbhar and Ram Karan, both belonging to the backward and Dalit social groups, respectively, alleged that the BJP was anti-backward and anti-Dalit.
The letter, in the form of an appeal, was addressed to Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Om Prakash Rajbhar, Sanjay Nishad and Swatantra Dev Singh, among others.
“The BJP’s social policies have major defects. In the BJP’s scheme of things, there is no place for poor Dalits and it is always against social justice. The saffron party is opposed to reservation of Backward Classes/Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The SP is always committed to social justice while the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is continuously fighting for protecting the Constitution and its values. By nominating us for the MLC poll, the SP gave force to social justice, hence, we request you to vote for us in the MLC poll to be held on May 29, 2023,” reads the appeal.
Both MLC seats belong to the Vidhan Sabha with candidates to be elected on the basis of the party’s Assembly strength. The BJP fielded Kunwar Manvendra Singh and Padmasen Chaudhary for the seats fallen vacant due to the appointment of Laxman Acharya as the Governor of Sikkim and following the demise of Banwari Lal Dohre.
It is likely that the ruling BJP with the support of more than 270 MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha, would get both its candidates elected.
