OBC Reservation Bill and Mandal politics 2.0

The forces of Mandal reservations evolve uniquely, in each decade, forcing all political parties to change course.

 OBC Reservation Bill and Mandal politics 2.0

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• The story: The first phase of Mandal politics began in 1989 when PM V.P. Singh decided to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission report, and bring in 27% reservation for OBCs, in education and jobs. That led to the "kamandal politics" of BJP-RSS, that has since dominated India hugely. But all through the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, demand for a caste-based census never went away.
• August 2021: The Parliament - for a change, in the monsoon session - debated the Constitution 127th Amendment Bill in both Houses. There was, for the first time, a general consensus that a caste-based census may be undertaken now. Why? Because when so many weldare programmes are run on the basis of reservations, it would not be a bad idea to have a real sense of group sizes.
• OBCs: Such an exercise will reveal the true extent of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) population, and lead to raising the 50% cap on reservations currently in place (as per the Supreme Court's 1992 ceiling).

1. Regional parties especially those that came up in the aftermath of the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations in the 1990s are at the forefront of these demands.
2. In the last few elections especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, these parties have seen a successful campaign by the BJP headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in parsing the non dominant sections of the OBC from the dominant communities belonging to that category, reaching out to them to build a powerful coalition of upper castes, non-dominant communities among the OBCs and among the Scheduled Castes as well.
3. In ticket distribution and in terms of ministry berths and in certain legislative interventions, the BJP has managed to make its version of Mandal work for it, along with a powerful Hindutva rhetoric.

• Data remains hidden: The Union government under PM Modi has not yet revealed the findings of the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) done in 2011, and the Justice G. Rohini Commission set up to look into sub-categorisation of OBCs for reservations in jobs and educational institutions is yet to submit its report. It is on its 11th extension since being set up in October 2017.
• Let the numbers be public: The demands by regional parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), etc. for knowing the correct number of OBCs and taking the matter to its logical conclusion of raising the 50% cap on reservations are ways to call the BJP’s bluff on its commitment to OBCs and seize the political momentum as well.
• EWS reservation: The "Mandal parties" keep pointing to the 10% sub-categorisation within the general category reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the upper castes. What the regional parties indicate is that the BJP primarily keeps the upper castes happy, while paying lip-service to the OBCs. For the BJP, despite having the largest number of OBC MPs, it is important to balance the upper caste sentiments especially in a State like Uttar Pradesh where they comprise nearly 18-20% of voters.
• Delicate situation: Today, the central govt. of BJP is in a delicate situation. Party MPs say this can be handled by finally pushing through a sub-categorisation plan for reservations in jobs. There is a possibility that a fresh SECC may be undertaken after the 2021 census is concluded.
• Evolution of Mandal: The forces of social and political mobility that the Mandal Commission recommendations unleased, are evolving differently in each decade. Changes cannot be stopped. BJP will have to re-engineer its social engineering formula, for this fresh avatar of Mandal.

 

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