Inclusion of 17 OBCs in SC list unconstitutional: Mayawati

TIL Desk/National/Lucknow/ Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati on Monday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to include 17 Other Backward Castes (OBC) in the Scheduled Caste (SC) list as “unconstitutional and politically motivated”.

Mayawati said the move will not bring any benefits for OBC groups and Yogi Adityanath had deceived them. “No government can include or remove any caste from the Scheduled Caste list. Article 341 prevents a government from doing so. Only the President and Parliament have the powers to do so,” she stated.

The BSP President further explained: “Part 1 of Article 341 clearly states that the President can specify any group to the SC list through a public notification on the Governor’s advice. Part 2 says that if a notification is released under part 1 of Article 341, it can only be changed by Parliament. Part 2 also states that Parliament can specify, include or exclude any group from the SC list.”

She pointed out that the notification cannot be undone by any other notification. “These castes will no longer get the benefits of quota under the OBC category. They will be treated as general castes. It is clear that Yogi government has issued this order to deceive these castes,” she stated.