Amid a political row in Uttar Pradesh over the inclusion of 17 Most Backward Castes in the Scheduled Castes category, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday suggested that the quota for Other Backward Castes and Dalits be increased in accordance with their population.

Though she did not directly make the demand, Ms. Mayawati justified the logic behind such calls. She said given the way the reservation cap was being raised to over 50% in various States, it was “justified and natural” for demands to come up for an increase in the quota for OBCs and SCs as per their population.

Ms. Mayawati made the comments during a review meeting with party functionaries from western Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand in preparation for the upcoming byelection to 11 Assembly seats.

She accused the BJP of apathy towards the OBCs and Dalits on the issue of reservation while contrasting it with the “tremendous interest” the party showed in providing reservation for Marathas under the OBC category and for the economically weaker section among the forward castes.

The BJP’s lack of interest in filling vacant posts for OBCs and Dalits showed its “casteist policy” and “narrow-minded thinking”, she said.

The true haqdars (entitled) of reservations, the weak and the oppressed castes, were still victims of apathy, the BSP chief said. On Monday, she accused the U.P. government of trying to hoodwink 17 MBC communities by issuing orders to provide SC certificates to them.

Terming the move “illegal and unconstitutional,” she said it had been taken keeping in view the upcoming bypolls. The outcome, she asserted, would be that the 17 castes would end up deprived of all kinds of reservations.

The comments on the U.P. government’s move to add the 17 MBCs to the SC list apart, the BSP chief has adopted a distinctly more measured political stance in recent weeks.

Unlike in the general election campaign, when an alliance with the SP provided the two parties the space to push hard on the “social justice” plank, the BSP has adopted a more moderate tone after the electoral reverses.

After the Lok Sabha election, in which the BSP won 10 seats, Ms. Mayawati has instructed party workers to focus on “bhaichara” brotherhood, a reference to the coming together of disparate castes, hinting that the party is keen to reprise its strategy of 2007 by attempting to build a broader coalition.

On Tuesday, Ms. Mayawati directed her party workers to connect with people of “sarv samaj,” meaning all communities, through door-to-door campaigns.

A BSP coordinator from Shamli district, who declined to be identified, said Ms. Mayawati instructed them to focus on “strengthening the organisation and working to maintain communal harmony.”

He also said Ms. Mayawati told her colleagues that party workers would get priority in contesting the upcoming bypolls.

Separately, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot on Tuesday termed the U.P. goverment’s decision to provide SC certificates to 17 MBCs as “unconstitutional”.