Lucknow, Jan 28 (IANS): The Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar has said that the BJP had no respect for backwards and Dalits and had committed atrocities on students demanding jobs amid growing unemployment.

Rajbhar is fighting the polls in alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.

Rajbhar said, "The BJP has not been able to deliver jobs to the youth, and it has deprived backward students of reservation. When students demand reservation, they are showered with police batons. The question paper of recruitment exams of 16 departments was leaked, today 34 lakh positions are lying vacant in the state. In Prayagraj, when students raised their voice, they were beaten up mercilessly. The youth want a change and to see Akhilesh Yadav as their next chief minister."

He further said that 85 per cent people in Uttar Pradesh were with the SP-led alliance as the BJP had snatched away their rights.

Rajbhar, a former minister, accused the BJP of harbouring 'the likes of Ajay Mishra Teni', accused of killing four farmers during the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

He further said, "Amit Shah did not get time to visit farmers when over 700 of them died during the farmers' protest. The farmers were protesting for almost a year, having braved the cold, rain and intense heat. But the BJP ignored them and instead, used force to stop the farmers from taking part in the protest against the three black farm laws. Now, when elections are here, the BJP is going from door to door distributing pamphlets.

"Why didn't Amit Shah remove Ajay Misra Teni who was involved in mowing down four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri? If the vehicle used in the incident had belonged to any backward, Dalit or Muslim, the owner would have been in jail today. Ajay Misra Teni should have been in jail ideally, but the BJP is giving him political shelter."

The SBSP leader said that the BJP had, time and again, shown disrespect to backward and Dalits.

"Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and people belonging to his caste sit on chairs, but a deputy chief minister from a backward caste is given a stool to sit on. This is the kind of respect they give to the backwards. Yogi Adityanath sits on a sofa, but UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh is made to sit on a chair. There are 1,700 police stations, but the BJP is silent when it comes to the number of OBC and Dalit police personnel posted there," he stated.