Before bypoll, Yogi includes 17 OBC castes in SC list

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has included 17 OBC castes in the Scheduled Castes list. A decision to this effect was taken late Friday night and authorities have been directed to issue caste certificate to families belonging to these 17 castes. This move is seen as an attempt by the Yogi Government to provide these social and economically backward classes with the benefits of reservation after removing legal irritants that have stalled the issue in the past. Coming before the by-elections to 12 Assembly seats, the move is bound to benefit the BJP and further erode the vote base of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.