Lucknow: UP Cheif Minister Yogi Adityanath has appointed 152 new law officers out of 312, belonging to Brahmin caste on July 7 in Uttar Pradesh.
The move is said to be taken to pacify the Brahmins after five of their brethren were killed in Rae Bareli last month. This could also be considered that Adityanath, who is a Thakur by caste, might want to have a majority of Thakurs in govt appointments.
Brahmins dominate all the five categories of newly appointed law officers – chief standing counsels, additional chief standing counsels, standing counsels, brief holders (civil) and brief holders (criminal). They account for three out of four newly-appointed chief standing counsels, 13 out of 25 additional chief standing counsels, 58 out of 103 standing counsels, 36 out of 66 brief holders (civil) and 42 out of 114 brief holders (criminal), scroll.in reports.
Segregation of the new appointees:
Other Backward classes constitute 40% of the state population but only 16 lawyers from OBC category have been appointed making a 5% of the appointees in the list. Besides 152 members from the Brahmin caste, the list has a large number of lawyers from other upper castes. A total of 282 law officers, constituting over 90% of the new appointees, belong to castes like Brahmins, Thakurs, Bhumihars, Kayasthas and Vaishyas.
The dispute between OBCs and Brahmins:
Five Brahmins were killed at Apta village under Unchahar police station in Rae Bareli on the night of June 26, allegedly by villagers belonging to an Other Backward Classes caste. Since then there has been a war of words leading the ruling party to be pulled between the two. The BJP leaders assured action and Adityanath announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the kin of each of the five victims.
The sudden rush to calm the Brahmins after the Rae Bareli killings made it difficult for the BJP to sustain its multi-caste alliance in India’s most populous state.
The ruling party’s bid to control the possible political damage through pro-Brahmin gestures, including distribution of government posts, has created fresh room for a fight between the state’s upper castes and the Other Backward Classes.