National President of Apna Dal S Anupriya Patel.
– Photo: Amar Ujala
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Apna Dal (S) president Anupriya Patel may have tried to grab political headlines by raising inappropriate questions about recruitment to posts reserved for OBCs and STs, but the main reason behind this is believed to be the fear of losing the Kurmi vote bank. There is also a discussion in political circles that Anupriya, who considers herself the only leader of her caste, has barely won the Lok Sabha elections after a tough fight, and she is under a lot of pressure due to this.
In fact, Anupriya had won her traditional seat in the Lok Sabha elections after a lot of hard work and a tough fight, but she lost the Robertganj seat. Apart from this, Anupriya is claiming that the Kurmi caste has influence on more than a dozen seats, in most of which the BJP has faced defeat. Ever since this came to light in the BJP’s review of the results, Anupriya was worried about saving her reputation in the NDA.
It is a different matter that despite the defeat in the Kurmi dominated seats, the BJP leadership has not only made her a minister again at the Centre, but has also given her the same importance which it had earlier. Despite this, Anupriya raising questions on the recruitment on the posts reserved for OBC-ST category has become a matter of surprise for the BJP. What benefit will Anupriya get from this political step, only time will tell, but it is certain that by raising this issue, she has tried to strengthen her weakening hold on her community. On the other hand, this step of Anupriya is also being seen as pressure politics.
Sources say that after the Kurmi vote bank slipped in the election results, Anupriya started worrying that once the vote bank slips, it will be a tough challenge for the party to get it back. Therefore, she has tried to do damage control in a way by raising questions about recruitment on reserved posts.
However, on the basis of the rules of the Recruitment Commission, Additional Chief Secretary (Appointment and Personnel) Devesh Chaturvedi has clarified the situation by sending a reply to Anupriya’s letter on behalf of the government. Still, the discussion about her political maneuver is not stopping. It is believed that raising such an issue without being aware of the correct facts is a big political mistake on Anupriya’s part.