Firozabad (UP)(PTI): In a fresh jolt to the BJP, Dr Mukesh Verma, MLA from Shikohabad Assembly constituency here, on Thursday resigned from the primary membership of the party alleging 'lack of respect' by the government towards backward classes and Dalits.
Verma is the seventh legislator, including two ministers, to have resigned from the BJP over the last three days.
Since the voices of the backward classes, Dalits, unemployed youth, traders of medium and small scale industries and shopkeepers among others are being ignored, I am resigning from the primary membership of the party, Verma stated in a letter to BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh.
He said he will continue the 'fight for justice' under Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Swami Prasad Maurya.
Maurya, after resigning from the Yogi Adityanath-led cabinet on Tuesday, had alleged "gross neglect" by the BJP towards Dalits, backward classes, farmers, unemployed youth and small traders.
Verma, also an OBC leader, also sent a copy of the letter to the party's national president JP Nadda. There are speculations that he will join the Samajwadi Party (SP).
In the recent past, Verma had met SP leaders amid rumours that the BJP would not field him in the upcoming polls.
Avtar Singh Bhadana, Brijesh Kumar Prajapati, Roshan Lal Varma, Bhagwati Sagar and Vinay Shakya are the five other leaders that quit the BJP in the last 36 hours.
Verma could not be contacted over phone.
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New Delhi (PTI): Hailing the Karnataka government's decision to declare its lands in the Yelahanka taluk of Bengaluru Urban district as the Greater Hesaraghatta Grassland Conservation Reserve, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said the Siddaramaiah-led dispensation was demonstrating how economic growth, social development and ecological sustainability could go hand-in-hand.
The Karnataka government on Monday notified 5,678 acres and 32 guntas of land in the Yelahanka taluk as the Greater Hesaraghatta Grassland Conservation Reserve.
The notification came after the state Cabinet last month decided to declare the grassland as a conservation reserve.
Reacting to the development, former Union environment minister Ramesh said the Karnataka government had been attracting very many new investments since May 2023.
It has also been implementing historic income support, food security and other guarantees, he added.
"Now, it has taken a bold decision to finally declare about 5,700 acres of government lands in the Yelahanka taluk of Bengaluru Urban district as the Greater Hesaraghatta Grassland Conservation Reserve under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972," Ramesh said in a post on X.
This grassland reserve is critical and, as a large catchment area, will greatly help in groundwater recharge for farmers in surrounding villages, Ramesh said.
It will augment the water supply to Bengaluru city, he further said.
"It will provide a natural carbon sink that mitigates effects of climate change in urban areas. It protects a rich biodiversity ecosystem that includes animals, insects, plants and trees, many of which are under serious threat," Ramesh said.
It will be a safe home for migratory birds arriving from Europe, Central Asia, Himalayan regions and the Arctic Circle, he noted.
"The Karnataka government is demonstrating how economic growth, social development and ecological sustainability can go hand-in-hand, as indeed they must at all times. This is a model for other states as well," the Congress general secretary said.
A notification dated February 24 states that the Karnataka government deemed it desirable to declare the specified area as the Greater Hesaraghatta Grassland Conservation Reserve due to its ecological, faunal, floral and geomorphological significance.
The government issued the notification to protect, propagate and develop the grassland, its wildlife and the crucial catchment area around Hesaraghatta, which serves as one of Bengaluru's water sources.
It clarified that the conservation reserve would not include any 'patta land' or affect existing rights.
The privileges of surrounding villagers will remain unaffected by this notification, it added.