Armed with OBC Bill, reservations and 27 ministers, saffron strategy for upcoming elections falls in place

Vibha Sharma

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 11

Armed with a legislation to restore states’ power to make their own OBC lists, 27 Other Backward Classes and 12 Dalit ministers in the council of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reservation for OBCs and EWS in the All India Quota (AIQ) scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses, the BJP’s strategy for important Assembly elections in 2022 and general elections in 2024 is falling in place.

While the social composition of his new team in the Centre was seen as a message to the backward and Dalit castes ahead of crucial elections in seven states, especially Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, next year, the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021, has given the saffron party additional support, as restoring powers of states to identify backward classes has been a demand of not just regional parties but also its own OBC leaders.

Yesterday, while addressing a BJP event to felicitate the 27 OBC ministers, who are part of the PM’s Council, party president JP Nadda said PM Modi has given representation to every caste and region in his government. He also took a swipe at other parties and their governments for “not giving due representation to different social groups” because “they were driven by family interests”.

Nadda said apart from the 27 OBC ministers, who make up for 35 percent of the Council, there are 12 SC, eight ST and 11 women in the council of PM Modi.

Recently, the government also decided to provide 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the All India Quota scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses.

The move is also expected to help the BJP and alliance partners like JD-U and Apna Dal.

Observers believe that all this will combine to provide the BJP with an effective pitch to woo the OBC community and also poor among upper castes, the ‘swaran jatis’, believed to be upset with the saffron party.