Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates for the Legislative Council bypolls to be held on May 29 wrote an open letter to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its allies and backward class leaders of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) on May 24. Chief Om Prakash Rajbhar is seeking votes in his favor for social justice.
Candidates Ram Jatan Rajbhar and Ram Karan, both belonging to 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 Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya, Om Prakash Rajbhar, Sanjay Nishad and Swatantra Dev Singh, among others.
“There are major flaws in the social policies of the BJP. There is no place for poor Dalits in BJP’s plan and it is always against social justice. The saffron party opposes reservation for backward classes/scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. SP is always committed to social justice while SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is continuously fighting to protect the constitution and its values. By nominating us for the MLC election, SP gave emphasis to social justice, therefore, we request you to vote for us in the MLC election to be held on May 29, 2023,” reads the appeal.
Both the MLC seats belong to the assembly, with candidates to be selected based on the party’s strength in the assembly. The BJP fielded Kunwar Manvendra Singh and Padmasen Chowdhary for the seats vacated by the appointment of Laxman Acharya as the governor of Sikkim and the death of Banwari Lal Dohra.
There is a possibility that the ruling BJP, which has the support of more than 270 MLAs in the assembly, will make both its candidates win.