Bias against OBCs, SCs, STs in Uttar Pradesh govt. appointments, Union Minister tells Yogi

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel has written to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath alleging bias in appointments of Other Backward Classes, Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe candidates in government jobs in the State. Ms. Patel’s letter, written on her party’s letterhead, comes weeks after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha election and is being seen as part of a tussle within the party and its allies in Uttar Pradesh. “The candidates from OBC and SC/ST communities are constantly contacting me and saying that they are often declared ‘Not Found Suitable’ for the posts reserved for them in various competitive examinations conducted by the State government that have an interview-based recruitment process. Reacting to Ms. Patel’s letter, a senior BJP office bearer from Uttar Pradesh said: “At a time when the BJP is trying to overcome its loss in polls, majorly due to the Opposition’s pitch in which it almost convinced the backward sections of voters that the party will change the Constitution if given 400 seats, this letter by the party’s ally may further dent the ruling party.” Many in the BJP, however, are seeing Ms. Patel’s letter as a ‘routine muscle flexing’ by smaller parties who want to remain relevant at a time when they could only win a single seat in the Lok Sabha election.