Anupriya Patel elected Apna Dal (S) chief, demands fresh caste census

Hours after she replaced her husband Ashish Patel as the head of the Apna Dal (Sonelal), Mirzapur MP and former union minister Anupriya Patel demanded a fresh caste census alongside the regular census due in 2021.

Apna Dal (S) is a political party mainly of Kurmis, the influential OBC sub-caste in UP.

With Anupriya having been left out of the Modi 2.0 ministry and her husband Ashish Patel, an MLC in UP, not being included in the Yogi Adityanath ministry either, the fresh caste census demand being raised Apna Dal (S) is being interpreted as a veiled attempt to signal her party’s opposition to the UP BJP government’s purported move to implement ‘the quota within quota’ report in the state.

Perhaps aware of BJP’s numerical dominance, both in UP and at the centre, Anupriya, however, stayed clear of any direct mention of the ‘quota within quota’ move. But she dwelt at length on how a fresh caste census was required to put a number to the exact proportion of backward castes.

“The Mandal Commission report said backward castes accounted for 52% of the population. The basis of that estimate was a 1931 caste census. Since then a caste census after much hullabaloo was done in 2011 but in a most haphazard way. Instead of being carried out with the regular census, it was done separately by the rural and urban development departments which took help from the state governments, but it was such a hotchpotch effort that even now it isn’t clear what is the proportion of backwards,” Anupriya said, addressing her party workers at Lucknow’s Indira Gandhi Pratisthaan.

She also said that the OBC lists prepared by the states and the centre varied greatly. With some OBCs listed as scheduled castes in some states, there was a need to rationalise the backward classes, she said.

“That is why we have sought a fresh caste census along with regular census in 2021,” she said as her cadres cheered her.

Political experts read her inaugural speech on becoming the party chief as an attempt at keeping the cadres in good humor as they may be concerned about being limited to 7% reservation if the ‘quota within quota’ recommendations were to be implemented, instead of 27% that they enjoy while being part of the joint OBC pool.

While dominant OBC groups are expected to take a hit, other marginalised OBC groups like Nishads, Rajbhars, Sahus, Lodhs and Kushwahas stand to gain better representation if the social justice committee report is implemented.

The BJP government in UP has remained tight-lipped on its implementation.

“The report is with the leadership which would take an appropriate decision at the right time,” a BJP leader said.

“Of course, no change in the present reservation quota of backwards should be attempted unless a fresh caste census determines proportional representation of each OBC sub-caste. Else it would be grave injustice if the report seeking division of backward caste quota were to be implemented,” said Rakesh Patel, who said he had come from Sitapur to attend the Apna Dal (S) national meet at which Anupriya was elected the party’s national chief.

Anupriya’s party is an ally of the BJP government at the centre and in UP, where it has representation in Yogi ministry in the form of minister of state Jai Kumar Singh ‘Jackie’, though the association is being tested as the BJP looks to promote its own home-grown backward caste leadership.

In Swatantra Dev Singh Patel, the BJP has chosen a Kurmi leader to head its state unit. Swatantra Dev originally hails from Mirzapur, the Lok Sabha constituency of Anupriya Patel.

For the upcoming by-polls to 13 assembly seats, the BJP is reportedly unwilling to give the seat to its ally and plans to contest all the by-poll seats on its own.

Pratapgarh was represented by Apna Dal MLA Sangam Lal Gupta, who won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on the BJP ticket .

“Anupriya is taking over the reins of her party at a difficult time as an increasingly confident BJP is not as much dependent on its allies as it was in 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it sought to capitalise on their local caste appeals. All the same, the association benefitted these parties too. Now, the BJP is planning to boost its own backward leadership, which is fair but makes Anupriya’s task more difficult as she has to keep her flock together, expand her party without antagonising the BJP,” said veteran journalist Irshad Ilmi.

First Published: Sep 16, 2019 22:14 IST