Savitri Phule quits BJP, says party dividing society

Lucknow, Dec 6 (IANS) In a jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, Lok Sabha member Savitri Phule resigned from the party on Thursday accusing it of trying to divide the society.

"I am a social worker. I work for Dalits. The BJP is doing nothing for Dalit reservation," the saffron-robed politician from Bahraich said on the sidelines of an event to mark the death anniversary of B.R. Amedkar here.

She said that while she had quit the BJP, she would continue to be a Lok Sabha member till the end of her tenure.

The 37-year-old has been working at cross-purposes with her party for the last one year, many a times openly flouting the party line.

Last week, she also took exception to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remarks that Lord Hanuman was a Dalit and asked if that was the case, why Dalits were not made priests in all Hanuman temples.

A leader of Dalits, Phule has demanded that instead of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, the BJP should construct a temple of Lord Buddha there.

Soon after her resignation was announced, Uttar Pradesh cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, leader of a BJP ally, said this was the beginning of a revolt in the BJP.

He said: "There are many MPs and MLAs who are not happy with the style of functioning of the state government, Wait and watch… more such events will happen."