Once close to Mayawati, former DGP Brij Lal appointed chief of UP’s SC/ST commission
Ex-UP DGP Brij Lal was considered close to BSP chief Mayawati and served on prime postings, including the top post in police, during the BSP rule. He joined the BJP in 2015 post-retirement.
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UP CM Yogi Adityanath. (File photo)
At a time when the BJP-led governments in the Centre and the states are in the line of fire over issues related to the Dalits, the Uttar Pradesh government under Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday appointed former UP DGP Brij Lal as chairman of the Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Brij Lal, who joined the BJP in January 2015, was considered close to BSP chief Mayawati and had served on prime postings, including the top post in police, during the BSP rule.
After he retired, it was speculated that Brij Lal being a powerful Dalit officer would join the BSP.
Brij Lal was posted as ADG (Law and Order) soon after the BSP came to power in 2007 and was later elevated to the post of state DGP. The Election Commission (EC) had, however, removed him ahead of the 2012 Assembly polls following complaints from opposition parties. The BJP had then welcomed the EC’s move.
A senior BJP leader said Brij Lal was picked for the SC/ST Commission chairman’s post to counter BSP chief Mayawati as well as other parties that are labelling the BJP as ‘anti-Dalit’.
Sources said Brij Lal had sought a BJP ticket in the 2017 assembly elections but was denied.
In another decision, CM Adityanath appointed Lalji Prasad Nirmal as chairman of Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Castes Finance Development Corporation. Nirmal, who is the president of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Mahsabha, had felicitated Adityanath as ‘Dalit Mitra’ on Ambedkar’s birth anniversary celebrations in Lucknow last week.
Several senior functionaries of the Mahasabha had opposed Nirmal’s decision to felicitate Adityanath, however, Nirmal remained adamant and had claimed that his government had done maximum work for Dalits in the state. Nirmal had said that Dalit officers were sidelined in the Samajwadi Party government but got prime postings in Adityanath’s rule.
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