Are caste-based political parties in Uttar Pradesh upset with 10 per cent reservation sop?

LUCKNOW: The Narendra Modi government's 'reverse social engineering' move to provide 10 per cent reservation for economically backward among the forward castes has apparently upset the political equations of the caste-based parties pursuing identity politics in Uttar Pradesh ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The new 'Bhramastra' by the Modi government in the fag end of their regime, has put the opposition parties in a fix, though publicly they will have to support this Bill to be tabled in Parliament.

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However, some SC/OBC organisations are set to challenge the new reservation formula in the court which can delay its implementation like it was done in the case of Mandal Commission in the early 1990s.

But the new announcement has put the upper caste in the same platter with the SC/ST and the OBCs, as all are slated to getting the reservation.

The move will affect the electoral arithmetic of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, in UP who have announced to forge an alliance with the aim to consolidate the 85 per cent vote bank comprising Dalits, OBCs and Muslims in the coming 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Though BSP president Mayawati has welcomed the Centre's decision to go for 10 per cent reservation for the upper case, which was her party's long pending demand, but has questioned the timing of the decision.

"When the Lok Sabha polls are near, such announcement is just a political gimmick to gain electoral mileage," she said in a statement here on Tuesday.

Even if the new 10 per cent reservation is passed by Parliament with the full support of all the political parties, there could still be judicial review of the decision as several SC/ST organisations likely to move the court.

The Mandal Commission report was announced by the V P Singh government in 1990 but it took around two years, when the Supreme court in November, 1992 upheld the Constitutional validity of the reservation to OBCs in government jobs and educational institutions in a case of Indira Sawhney vs Union government.

Similarly, even after the unanimous passage of the National Judicial Accountability Commission Bill by Parliament, it has been struck down by the Supreme Court.

The bill had proposed to change the system to appoint the judges of the HC and SC from the present collegium system.

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However, the BJP's move is reported to have the full support of its parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS), who had always maintained that reservation should be along economic lines and not only along caste basis.

Besides the 10 per cent quota for the upper castes, the Modi government is all set to fire yet another salvo quota within quota for the Most Backward Classes in the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The National Commission for Backward Classes in 2011 had recommended three subcategories of the 27 per cent quota among different castes included in OBCs so as to ensure that the benefit of the reservation reaches all the backward classes.

The NDA government in October 2017 had appointed a committee headed by Justice G Rohini and it is likely to submit its report soon.

The NDA government will split the 27 per cent quota among backwards, most backwards and extremely backward classes.

It is a political stunt by the beleaguered Modi government ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections.

The legislation to be passed after the amendment of Constitution will not hold the scrutiny of law.

Deciding over the constitutional validity of the Mandal Commission, the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney vs Union of India case of 1992 had ruled that economic backwardness cannot be the sole criterion for providing reservation, said professor Vivek Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University, who is presently staying in Lucknow.

Incidentally, the Bahujan Samaj Party which owes its existence to the politics of social engineering has been a strong advocate of reservation on economic grounds for the poor among the upper castes.

In 2007, the BSP had changed the tack and to pursue inclusive politics for attracting Brahmins, it had coined a new political plank 'Sarv Samaj'.

The proposal to give 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker upper castes is nothing more than a jumla.

It is bristling with legal complications and there is no time for getting it passed in both Houses of Parliament and so the Modi government stands completely exposed, said a Samajwadi Party leader.

A senior SP leader said the 10 per cent quota could be precursor for ending the caste-based reservation and replacing it with the economic criterion.

"The socially backward castes already enjoy the benefit of reservation. But once the income-based reservation is successfully implemented for economically weaker upper castes, the next logical step would be to apply the same yardstick to the so-called lower classes -- OBC, SC, ST and other socially backward sections as well. The rich, regardless of their caste and religion, do not need reservations," the SP leader said.

The point is at some stage, the nation will have to bid adieu to the game of caste, community and religion based reservations and look at income levels as a criterion, which is the right way to look at the reservation picture.

Earlier, Arvind Panagariya, noted economist and former vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, in a working paper, which assessed poverty by social groups (1993-94 to 2011-12), found that percentage of poverty reduction is slower among the forward castes compared with socially backward castes between 2004-05 and 2011-12.