Anti-quota group SAPAKS to contest Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: SAPAKS, an anti-reservation organisation in Madhya Pradesh, announced on Tuesday that it is entering electoral politics and would contest all 230 Assembly seats in the year-end elections in the state.

Former IAS officer and patron of SAPAKS, Hiralal Trivedi, has been made president of the new party, it said.

“On Tuesday, we have formally announced formation of a political party – SAPAKS Party. It will contest all 230 seats in the state. We will soon announce our candidates,” Trivedi told reporters.

The party’s `organisation general secretary’ Suresh Tiwari said that former IPS officer Vijay Wate, former IAS officer Veena Ghanekar, former state health department director KL Sahu and Betul-based industrialist Rajiv Khandelwal have been appointed as vice presidents.

“Our main plank in assembly elections would be opposition to recent amendments in the SC/ST Act which are against the Supreme Court’s verdict. We are also against reservation in promotion of government employees. We are also demanding reservation to the economically weaker section instead of caste-based reservation,” Tiwari said. The party would also contest Lok Sabha elections next year, he said.

A section of government employees in Madhya Pradesh formed `Samanya, Pichda, Alpsankhyak Kalyan Samaj Sanstha (SAPAKS) two years ago to agitate against reservation in promotions.

The outfit recently staged protests in the state against Parliament’s amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. After the apex court inserted certain safeguards regarding immediate arrest under the Act, the amendment restored the original provisions.