Bihar survey: The die is caste

Under the larger Hindu umbrella, the BJP has been successful in managing the inherent caste contradictions between the OBCs and the upper castes. The Congress, too, has taken a plunge in OBC politics. The party supported quota within quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill.

With the release of the Bihar Caste enumeration report, the INDIA parties have cast the die to drag the BJP onto the caste pitch for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The growing chorus for a nationwide caste census is aimed at challenging the BJP's grip over backward-class politics in recent years. What are the options before the ruling party and the opposition as they go all out to woo the largest voting bloc in the country?

Caste Census Background:

The 1911 caste census triggered the Dravidian moment when the data showed representation of Brahmins in education was disproportionately more than their 3 percent population in the Madras Presidency.

The last caste census in India was done in 1931. The Mandal Commission in 1979 extrapolated the Backward Classes population at 52 percent. The report was implemented by VP Singh's government in 1989 reserving 27 percent seats in education and government jobs.

2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census

The UPA government in 2011 commissioned an enumeration of caste as part of the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC). The data was never released. Since then, many states, including Karnataka, have sought to extrapolate the caste-wise population through surveys.

Renewed Demands for Caste Census

The Modi government in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls implemented 10 percent reservations for the Economically Weaker Sections EWS. The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court even though the provision took the overall reservations over and above the 50 percent cut-off set by the apex court.

The decision triggered demand among the Mandal parties which started pushing for caste enumeration to seek proportional and not just representative allocation of seats based on the numerical strength of each community.

BJP’s Dilemma

Under the larger Hindu umbrella, the BJP has been successful in managing the inherent caste contradictions between the OBCs and the upper castes. Modi’s subtle projection as an OBC leader has helped the party woo the backward communities. While Hindutva helps to politically engage the upper castes. The dominance of the numerically strong and politically empowered OBC communities like Yadavs is another reason why smaller backward castes have gravitated towards the BJP. In north India, the BJP has aligned with caste-based smaller parties to mop up minor OBC votes.

Opposition Outlook

Congress too has taken a plunge in OBC politics. The party supported quota within quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill. By demanding caste census, the INDIA alliance is attempting to underscore contradiction within the BJP’s core electoral bloc- that is between the backward classes and the upper castes, demanding a larger share of the quota pie for the non-upper castes.

BJP’s Options

Will the BJP concede to the demand to enumerate caste- wise data in the pending decennial census which is to be taken up after the 2024 polls?

Moreover, as is evident from Bihar numbers, Extremely Backward Castes are the biggest voting sub-group that the BJP can attempt to consolidate. The Rohini Commission report on the sub-categorization of the OBC quota for a more equitable distribution of the reservations is now with the government. To implement it, would entirely be a political call that BJP may have to take ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.