India
The BJP’s ally SUBHASPA, headed by OP Rajbhar, the Cabinet minister in the state, has got an opportunity to put pressure on chief minister Yogi Adityanath to go in for a quota within the 27% of the OBC reservation
New Delhi: Just before the model code of conduct for the 2019 general elections kicks in, the Narendra Modi government on Monday took a crucial decision of granting 10% reservation for economically weaker sections of the general caste in government jobs and education. But, it has caused ripples in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh.
The Yogi Adityanath government has come under pressure to have a separate quota within the other backward castes reservation in the state.
The Yogi regime has been analysing the outcome of the mandatory “Quota in Quota”. Because, this is a big political step and wants to check every aspect of profit and loss before an election in the state.
Also read: Are you eligible for upper caste quota? Find out here
Although, one cannot say whether the BJP would get political mileage in the upcoming elections. But this decision of the Central government has started reservation politics in Uttar Pradesh.
The alliance partner in the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SUBHASPA), has been advocating for the quota and has created a huge pressure on the Yogi government to apply the reservation formula before the general elections.
The BJP’s ally SUBHASPA, headed by OP Rajbhar, the Cabinet minister in the state, has got an opportunity to put pressure on chief minister Yogi to go in for a quota within the 27% of the OBC reservation.
However, this is a harsh reality that in this OBC reservation, more than 70% of financially weaker of the OBC sub-castes are still not taking benefit of the reservation while the rest of 30% of prosperous and strong sub-castes of this category is getting the benefit of the reservation compared to other sub-castes in the state.
Rajbhar and his party are demanding to divide the OBC reservation into three segments for a long time. He has already threatened the Yogi government that he would withdraw support and will fight the forthcoming elections without an alliance with the BJP if the government does not fulfill his demands.
In the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017, the BJP struck an alliance with SUBHASPA which got four seats in the state while the BJP’s tally was 312.
Last year, the Yogi government had constituted a committee under a retired high court judge to find a solution to the present OBC reservation, to provide succor to the suppressed and weaker sub castes under this reservation category.
The committee in its report had suggested that the present reservation should be divided into three categories with each getting 9% quota.
As per the Justice Ragvendra report, “Yadav, Kurmi, Sonar and Chaurasia, including some other sub-castes are economically stronger under the OBC reservation, besides Kevat, Nishad, Maali, Ghoshi including 65 other sub-castes are yet weaker in this section, so the reservation should be divided into three segments for this category and 9% for each segment.”
Besides incorporating the committee's suggestions, the Yogi government is also working to apply another formula for dividing the reservation into two segments of 7% and 20% quota each.
The think-tank of the BJP, like the RSS, believes the government shouldn’t touch the new reservation formula before the general elections, because the majority of the beneficiaries of reservation can go against the party in an election and it must be kept away for the next few months.
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