Never favoured caste-based rallies: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav

New Delhi: In a move that is bound to upset the political parties of Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court today banned caste-based rallies in the state.

Issuing notices to the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP, the Samajwadi Party or SP, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the court asked why such rallies should not be banned.

The court said such rallies divided the society and will remain banned until the parties replied to its notices.

The court order comes just a week after former Chief Minister Mayawati organised a Dalit-Brahmin "solidarity rally" in Lucknow.

Here are the major political reactions on the court order:

Vijay Bahadur Pathak, BJP state spokesman
We welcome the order. The BJP has always been opposed to such rallies.

Pradip Mathur, Congress legislature party chief
We as a party have never indulged in such politics and we are happy at the ban.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, senior Congress leader
It is a very good decision as we have been looking for many years. Some parties conduct rallies on the basis of caste and community. It is very good for the united India.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief
There was one brahmin sammelan that I went to, then I stopped going to these meetings, I have never been in favour of such rallies.