A day after NCBC chairperson Hansraj Ahir said the commission will review inclusions made in the central OBC list as recommended by the West Bengal govt in 2014, BJP OBC Morcha president Dr K Laxman demanded similar revisions in Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where he claimed, “Hindu OBCs were suffering due to appeasement politics”.
Laxman said the National Commission for Backwards Classes (NCBC) has discovered anomalies in the reservation systems in these states. He said that in West Bengal, of a total of 179 OBC castes, 118 are Muslim OBC castes, accounting for 27% of the Muslim population. “Shockingly, there are only 61 Hindu OBC castes, despite them comprising 70% of the population. This raises concerns about the potential conversion of Hindu OBCs to Islam, as Rohingya and Bangladeshi immigrants have been granted OBC certificates,” Laxman said.
In Rajasthan, he said, no one from the OBC community has received reservation benefits in any of the seven districts. “This blatant disregard for the rights of OBCs is a matter of great concern,” he said.
In Bihar, from 1993 to 2023, he alleged that the government has been issuing flawed certificates to individuals belonging to the Kurmi caste. “Rectifying the software in Jharkhand and Bihar is crucial to address this issue and ensure the proper allocation of reservations,” he added.
Additionally, Laxman said, OBCs in Punjab are given 12% reservations, while SCs receive 25%, amounting to a total reservation of 37%. “This raises questions about the remaining 13% that could potentially be allocated to OBCs, as states are allowed to provide reservations up to 50%” he said.
Backward classes in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he said, are entitled to 25% reservations, which include groups A, B, C, and D. “Certain Muslim castes such as Dudekula and Mehtar have been included in backward classes groups A and B. While Andhra Pradesh has a Muslim population of only 12%, this is seen as communal reservation and raises concerns about fairness,” Laman said.
After the reversal of reservation benefits to Muslims in Karnataka, the BJP has been raising these concerns. Party leaders said that as part of their preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, there is an intensive effort to consolidate the OBC vote bank.