SP walks out of U.P. Vidhan Parishad over caste census issue

The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad witnessed a heated session on Tuesday as Samajwadi Party (SP) members staged a walkout, demanding a caste-based census in the state.

They accused the government of neglecting caste equations in the appointment of university vice-chancellors and alleged discrimination in the process.

Leader of the House and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, dismissed the allegations, claiming that SP members had no real concern for the interests of Dalits and backward classes. He remarked that their sole agenda was to recite the ‘Akhilesh Chalisa’.

SP member Ashutosh Sinha, raising the issue through an adjournment motion, argued that the government’s refusal to conduct a caste census has led to widespread disappointment among various sections of the society.

Another SP member Man Singh Yadav pointed out that among the 34 vice-chancellors in the state, 11 were Kshatriyas, 11 Brahmins, four Vaishyas, two Kayasthas, three from OBCs, and three from SC/ST communities.

He further said participation of reserved category individuals in the top 100 corporate companies remained zero, which was why SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was pushing for a caste census.

SP leader Kiranpal Kashyap alleged that the reserved category was being discriminated against. He highlighted that in the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP projected Keshav Prasad Maurya as the party’s face but did not make him the chief minister.

Leader of the Opposition, Lal Bihari Yadav, claimed that from judicial appointments to the posting of police station heads, reserved categories were being ignored.

Responding to the opposition’s allegations, Leader of the House Keshav Prasad Maurya said the BJP was a perfect representation of social harmony. He clarified that neither he nor the BJP opposed caste-based census but questioned why SP did not raise this issue between 2004 and 2014 when it supported the UPA government at the Centre.

Maurya emphasised that the BJP government had honoured leaders like Chaudhary Charan Singh and Karpoori Thakur with the Bharat Ratna and also honoured Mulayam Singh Yadav.

In response, SP’s Lal Bihari Yadav countered that awards do not feed the people, following which SP members staged a walkout shouting slogans against the government.

Continuing his address, Maurya accused SP members of misleading Akhilesh Yadav with dreams of coming to power in 2027.

He claimed that under SP, Congress, and other governments, reserved categories suffered losses, which the BJP was now trying to compensate for. He also pointed out that the caste census was a central issue and not a state matter.