Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brajesh Pathak on Thursday dismissed the Opposition charge that Brahmins are unhappy with the BJP and alleged that the community faced maximum atrocities during the Samajwadi Party regime.
He claimed that the community is backing his party and those "eager to grab power" are creating confusion.
"Our government is moving forward taking all sections of society along. The entire Brahmin community is with the BJP," Pathak told PTI.
"People of state know that the Brahmin community faced maximum atrocities during the previous SP regime. The SP government was anti-Brahmin," the minister said.
The statement by Pathak has come days after former minister Harishankar Tiwari's family members joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) and alleged atrocities against the community in the state's Gorakhpur, Raebareli and Kanpur.
Gorakhpur was the Lok Sabha constituency of Yogi Adityanath before he was sworn-in as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister after the 2017 Assembly elections. Pathak has been tasked with wooing Brahmins voters ahead of the Assembly elections next year by the BJP.
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The minister said members of the Tiwari family joining the SP will not have any impact on the elections.
When asked that the BJP never made any Brahmin its CM face in UP, Pathak claimed his party never takes decisions on the basis of caste and religion.
The party worker who does good work is given a chance, he said, adding that it is decided at the party forum unitedly.
About Brahmin MLA Jai Chaubey joining the SP, Pathak said he was involved in "anti-party activities" and was told a year ago not to attend party meetings.
He also claimed that his government acted against organised crime, breaking the "network" of members of the mafia.
"Those who used to grab plots, shops, government properties and government contracts are finished now. We have broken their network," he claimed.
He said his government invoked the stringent National Security Act against 600 people and action was taken against more than 4,000 people under the Gangster Act.
PTI
