RLD decries Maya's proposal on OBC's

Lucknow, May 10 (UNI) Criticising the ruling Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) today objected to the Chief Minister's proposal for inclusion of some Other Backward Classes (OBC) under the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

RLD state unit president Ram Asrey Verma at a press conference here said ''Ms Mayawati has sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding inclusion of Kahyan, Kahar, Kewat, Mallah, Nishad, Kumhar, Prajapati, Dheemar, Bind, Bhar, Rajbhar, Dheevar, Batham. Turha, Gond, Majhi and Machua in the SC/ST list...the fact is the letter is not according to the Constitution,'' he claimed.

As per the Constitution, the Governor's advice and notification are a must for any such conversion of castes, but Ms Mayawati directly sent the letter to the PM, Mr Verma said.

''The party has showed its anger over the issue through 'dharna pradarshans' and now we will lay down a political starategy,'' the RLD leader informed.

Yesterday, the RLD had handed a memorandum to Governor T V Rajeswar, demanding inclusion of the OBC's after issuing a notification and sending a proposal to President Pratibha Patil.

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