The BJP-led Central government’s decision to examine sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has already stirred the pot of caste politics, with parties such as Lalu Prasad’s RJD renewing their demand for the release of caste census data.

The political rationale behind setting up a Commission — to examine the inequity in benefits of reservation among castes and communities included the category of OBCs — is obvious: to pit the smaller groups against the dominant group to prevent them from voting en masse for one political party.

In Haryana, for instance, the BJP broke the political dominance of the Jats by consolidating all other castes and appointing a Punjabi Khatri, Manohar Lal Khattar, as Chief Minister.

The party, however, has a ready explanation for the social significance of the move. Vinay Sahastrabudhe, Rajya Sabha MP and among the BJP’s most respected ideologues, told BusinessLine that there can be no doubt that benefits of caste reservations have eluded groups that are at the bottom of the ladder.

“Some communities have gained the ability to acquire upward social mobility at a rapid rate. But some groups, especially the extremely poor, have remained disadvantaged and untouched by the benefits of caste-based reservations. I believe the government has taken the right step towards ensuring that these benefits reach everyone,” Sahastrabudhe said.

“Of course, some people would look at it through the political prism. But if the government is taking steps to assess the impact of a policy on citizens and ensuring equi-distribution of benefits, there is clearly a larger public interest at the heart of that decision,” he said.

RJD national spokesperson Manoj Jha was categorical in his assessment that the move is aimed at gaining electoral dividends by breaking the OBC block.

“You sub-categorise reservation when you have evidence to prove that the dominant caste has cornered all benefits, such as jobs or admissions in educational institutions. Even a cursory survey would reveal that over 60-70 per cent positions meant for OBCs in jobs as well as educational institutions are lying vacant. What, then, is the rationale beind such a move?” asked Jha.

He said the only substantive basis for the government initiating such a move could be the findings of the caste census.

“We have only one demand: release the findings of the caste census and tell us which community has cornered what. The BJP will not do that because their motive is not to broaden the scope of social justice in India. They only want to pit one caste against the other and break the OBC block,” Jha told Business Line.

The Samajwadi Party (SP), among the worst political victims of the BJP’s move to rally non-Yadav OBCs in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, is still scurrying around to come up with a proper political response.

“This will be discussed within the party and we will come up with an appropriate comment. Quota within quota is obviously a political move but you have to wait for a substantive reaction,” SP MP Naresh Aggarwal said.