Ahead of Assembly polls, why quota issue has NDA in a knot
While JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas) have protested against lateral entry system in bureaucracy, NDA allies have been using veto power to register opposition to Centre’s decisions
Ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in five states, the reservation issue hangs like the sword of Damocles before the BJP, with key partners of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) expressing discomfort with quota-related decisions.
A few NDA partners extended their support to Wednesday’s nationwide protest called by Dalit organisations against the Supreme Court’s August 1 order to introduce sub-quota within the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
The protest came a day after the Centre revoked its decision on the lateral entry of bureaucrats.
Voices of dissent from allies
While Union minister and chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Chirag Paswan gave moral support for the daylong protests on Wednesday, bigger NDA partners like Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) have also protested against the Centre’s decision to allow lateral entry into bureaucracy.
At a time when the Opposition is demanding provision of reservation to SCs, Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the lateral entry system, while accusing the Centre of deliberately taking away the rights of marginalised community, voices of dissent from allies does not augur well for the BJP.
“Union Minister Chirag Paswan realised that the issue (of lateral entry) needed certain changes, and he took the lead in speaking out against it. The issue is important, but social justice is also an important issue for the government. The NDA government runs because of consensus, and this is the rule for this government. Had the issue reached the Supreme Court, it would have been untenable. The Centre realised this after the LJP (Ram Vilas) chief spoke about it. So, now the government has decided to take a relook at it,” Dr Ajay Kumar, national general secretary of LJP (Ram Vilas), told The Federal.
Partners use veto power
Although the NDA government is just over two months into its third term, regional partners of BJP have been using their veto power to ensure that the Union government respects the opinions of NDA partners.
It was also the LJP (Ram Vilas) which took the lead in the NDA camp in filing a case in the Supreme Court to appeal against the sub-classification of SCs and STs.
Several members of NDA said even though LJP (Ram Vilas) moved court against the decision, the lead should have been ideally taken by the Centre.
“We have filed an appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court and now the legal process will start, but ideally it should have been the Union government that should have filed it. The government in its wisdom chose not to appeal against it,” AK Bajpai, Supreme Court lawyer and national spokesperson of LJP (Ram Vilas), told The Federal.
Tricky situation for NDA
The issue of reservation remains a challenge for the BJP because while Union Ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi gave moral support for the issue, their stand on the Supreme Court’s judgement allowing sub-classification within SC and ST is diametrically opposite. While Paswan has appealed against the judgment, Manjhi has supported it and has asked the Centre to implement it. With the Bihar election just 15 months away, the BJP will need better management within the NDA in Bihar to consolidate its voter base.
Bills sent back
Not only this, but NDA partners also voted against the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, when the Centre tabled it in the recently held Parliament session. The Bill was sent to a parliamentary committee for further considerations after several partners demanded that parliamentarians scrutinise it. Among the NDA partners that made the demand were JD(U), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and LJP (Ram Vilas).
The Union government has also withdrawn the draft version of the Broadcasting Bill after facing pressure from its NDA partners.
Demand for caste census in Maharashtra
The BJP’s fate in poll-bound Maharashtra also seems to be dependent on its fulfilment of a caste census in the state. Amid demands for a caste poll from OBC leaders in the state, several NDA partners have been urging the saffron party to give the green signal for a caste census in Maharashtra.
Even as the BJP leadership expects the Congress and its INDIA bloc allies to promise caste census as a poll promise in Maharashtra, a similar demand is being raised by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who has reiterated that caste census must take place in the state.
“Most NDA partners are in favour of a caste census in Maharashtra. It will help us know the population of the OBC community. The OBC community has suffered a lot and we are in favour of a caste census at the earliest,” Mahadev Jankar, former minister and member of NDA in Maharashtra, told The Federal.
Solution for Maratha agitation
The decision to announce a caste census is also important for the BJP because of the ongoing Maratha agitation.
The BJP-NDA suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha elections and got its lowest seat count in 10 years in Maharashtra. Senior NDA leaders are hopeful that an announcement for a caste census would help the BJP-NDA consolidate the OBC voter base.
