Within hours of the BJP supporting the quota in promotion bill in the Rajya Sabha, a revolt has erupted within the party in Uttar Pradesh on the issue.
Senior BJP MLA and deputy leader of the BJP legislature party Satish Mahana said that the BJP should not have supported the quota bill in Rajya Sabha. He asked the party leadership not to support the same in the Lok Sabha.
Mr Mahana, who has been elected from the Maharajganj Assembly segment (Kanpur), said, “The bill is divisive in nature and would jeopardise the hierarchy among government employees. Majority of the BJP leaders and the party workers are vehemently opposed to reservation in promotion. By supporting the bill, the bill will earn the ire of non-dalit communities.”
BJP MP Mahant Yogi Adityanath also warned the party leadership that if they continued to support the controversial bill, they would have to pay a heavy price, particularly in the Hindi heartland.
He said that he would raise the issue on the party forum, and try to convince the BJP leadership that supporting this bill would amount to committing political hara-kiri.
“A large number of MPs in the BJP are strongly opposed to the bill and may not support it in Lok Sabha. The Supreme Court has already turned down the issue,” he said.
Former state BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi has also written a letter to top party leaders, including Mr L.K. Advani, Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Nitin Gadkari, asking them not to support the quota in reservation bill in the Lok Sabha.
A senior BJP legislator said that by supporting the bill in Rajya Sabha, the party had already caused 50 per cent damage.