LUCKNOW: After Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), another
NDA ally,
Apna Dal, has come up with a set of demands for the
BJP ahead of the
Rajya Sabha elections.
On Wednesday, a delegation of Apna Dal (S) led by its president Ashish Singh Patel and Union minister Anupriya Patel met BJP chief
Amit Shah and party's UP organizational secretary Sunil Bansal and sought 50% reservation for SCs and OBCs in posting of DMs and SSPs in all districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Apna Dal, which has nine MLAs in UP, also demanded 50% reservation for SCs and OBCs in posting of police inspectors.
Speaking to TOI on the phone from New Delhi, Patel said it had been a long pending demand, which had not been met by the state government.
"There is gross under-representation of people from the backward community in administrative and police services in UP," he said, adding that Shah assured them of addressing their demands when he visits Lucknow on April 10.
Sources in UP government said that Apna Dal's demand seemed to be arbitrary and did not hold any logical ground.
"Posting of DM and SSP is done on the basis of merit by the state government and not after taking their caste into consideration," said an IAS officer on the condition of anonymity.
Patel, however, maintained that the demand would not come in the way of their support for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections.
"We are ally partners of the BJP and would vote accordingly,"' he said, adding that the strategy would be finalised after their meeting with BJP leaders on Thursday.
Apna Dal, with a strong outreach among OBCs, mainly Kurmis, had earlier expressed its reservations with the BJP after it was not incorporated in the seat sharing arrangements during the civic polls.
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