The interplay of quota and politics

When Home Minister Amit Shah met Jat leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana this week to mollify them, some of the Jat representatives demanded reservation for the community. Apparently, the community leaders thought of striking the iron when it was hot as the ruling BJP has been desperately reaching out to them for a turnaround in its seemingly weak electoral fortune in the state. They, however, could not elicit a firm commitment from the Home Minister.

This was not the first time that quota politics has raised its head ahead of the polls, but most of the time, the Supreme Court intervened to correct the course. The apex court on January 28 told the states that they are obligated to collect quantifiable data, before providing for reservation in promotion for SC/ST employees. It earlier this month upheld the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the All India Quota for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate and postgraduate medical admissions. The apex court in a way underlined the seriousness of the concept of affirmative action, which should not be subjected to frivolity.

The current caste census pitch is also intrinsically linked to quota and has put the BJP in a quandary over its ramifications even as the party has made forays among the Most Backward Classes, posing a challenge before the parties doing Mandal politics like Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The socialist parties in Bihar including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), an ally of the NDA, have been making a pitch for caste census even as the Union government on the floor of Parliament said no to it. The JD(U) and its arch-rival, the RJD, came together on the issue and Kumar and Tejaswi Yadav from Bihar led an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister to press for it in August last year. Other NDA allies RPI(A) led by Ramdas Athawale, and Apna Dal led by Anupriya Patel also backed it along with key Opposition parties like SP, BSP, RJD, AAP, LJD and the NCP.

Caste count

Their argument is that when the Mandal Commission report was implemented in the 90s, the OBC caste calculation was based on estimates and was not truly reflective, necessitating a caste count now to arrive at the exact status. In Hindi belt politics, which has seen slogans like ‘Jiski Jitni Hissedari, Uski Utni Bhaagidari (One will have as much participation as one has its share in number)’, the significance of the caste census is as such evident. With Nitish Kumar frequently taking a position contrary to that of BJP on various issues and the saffron party not having OBC leaders of the stature what Opposition parties like SP and BSP have, the worry over caste census impact on long-term politics in UP and Bihar, which together send 140 MPs to Lok Sabha, is natural for the ruling party. It is trying to counter the noise around it with its ‘sabka sath sabka vikas’ pitch.

Read | Quota vs merit: A dichotomy demolished

The Quota issue invariably comes up whenever elections are held in the Hindi belt states. As election campaign picked up, the SP’s CM face, Akhilesh Yadav, in December 2021 fell back on quota to consolidate his OBC pitch, alleging that the BJP is ‘conspiring to end reservation in government jobs’. A vehement denial came from the saffron party, which had tasted a bitter electoral outcome in the state in the 2015 Bihar polls, when the grand alliance led by Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad had spun the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark on the need for a “review” of quota to paint the BJP anti-reservation. Both the RSS and the BJP have repeatedly clarified that there was no attempt to end reservation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later going to the extent of saying that he will prefer to die, but will not let go of reservation.

In the run up to 2012 UP polls, a massive row kicked in UP over remarks of Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid about creating minority sub-quota within the existing 27% reservation for the OBCs, drawing the ire of the Election Commission.

The VHP vehemently opposed the 4.5% reservation to Muslims with its then controversial leader Praveen Togadia accusing the Congress of ignoring the interests of Hindus and threatened to launch an agitation against the decision.

In 2016, the Akhilesh Yadav government toyed with the idea of sending a resolution to the Centre, urging it to amend the Constitution and make way for 13.5% reservation for Muslims. Even in its 2012 election manifesto, the SP had promised to give reservation to Muslims in proportion to their population.

The issue had come into the spotlight with the Rangnath Mishra Commission report in 2009 recommending a 15% quota for minorities, including 10% for Muslims.

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