BJP leaders say caste survey won’t affect party’s electoral policies
BJP leaders have tried to turn the findings of the Bihar caste survey to their advantage, pointing out that these were not contrary to the party’s electoral policies
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that withstood pressure from its allies and opposition parties to agree to a caste-based enumeration, on Monday said, it does not oppose the survey and its outcome will not impact its social engineering model of bringing different castes under the wider Hindu votebank. Senior party functionaries who spoke on condition of anonymity also said the percentage of various castes as shown in the survey, illustrates that the BJP’s outreach towards the other backward classes (OBC), the scheduled castes (SCs)and scheduled tribes (STs) was well-intended as it gave these castes representation commensurate with their numbers.
Even as president of the party’s Bihar unit, Samrat Choudhary told news agencies that the survey findings are an “incomplete report”, leaders in Delhi tried to turn the findings of the caste composition in the state to their advantage, pointing out that these were not contrary to the party’s electoral policies.
“The BJP is the only party that gave political representation to castes that are numerically smaller within the ambit of a bigger cluster, for instance the Kushwahas (4.2%) counted as OBCs. This in turn has empowered those castes that used to be sidelined by the dominant castes or subsumed in their larger identity,” said a party functionary not wishing to be named.
The leader said the party has picked representatives from various castes to ensure their inclusion. “Samart is a Kushwaha; leader of the opposition in the legislative council, Hari Sahni is an EBC; and leader of the opposition in the assembly Vijay Kumar Sinha is an upper caste,” the leader said.
Since it came to power at the Centre in 2014, the increase in the party’s vote share and seats are attributed to the support that the BJP elicited from the OBCs, the SCs and the STs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, being an OBC gave a fillip to the BJP’s outreach towards the communities in 2014, and it strengthened its position among the OBCs and the SC, STs in 2019 riding on the back of its social welfare schemes and by giving space to them on the high table.
“How many Gadheria (shepherd) community members (counted among the Kurmis) have been politically empowered by the JDU? How many non Yadavs has the RJD propped? These parties have helped only specific communities and blamed the BJP for being casteist,” the leader quoted above said.
A second party functionary, also speaking on condition of anonymity said most political analysts view the BJP’s expansion as an outcome of the Kamandal politics, a term used to denote the consolidation of the Hindu vote bank post Ramjanamabhoomi movement in the 1990s, but the party’s decision to shed its image as an upper caste (Brahmin-Baniya) entity paved the way for its growth.
“Post Mandal Commission report, the BJP suffered a setback as regional parties such as the RJD in Bihar and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh grew stronger and carved a space for themselves, dislodging even the Congress. The Ramjanamabhoomi movement helped the BJP consolidate its position, but it was the efforts made to win over the non- dominant OBCs that began in 2013 that gave the BJP a truly pan India position,” the second functionary said.
While the party is reluctant to explain why it opposed the caste census, given its stress on wooing the beneficiaries of the survey, the second leader said the party’s outreach towards the OBCs “still needs to be strengthened” as it is not uniformly supported by the larger OBC grouping.
“There is no denying that the dominant Yadavs still support the RJD and the SP; just as the Kurmis support Nitish Kumar’s JDU. These castes have benefitted from the social welfare schemes of the Modi government, but in state elections, they still opted to stick to caste-based preference,” the second leader explained.
Senior BJP leader and former minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the BJP was not against carrying out the survey and is the only party that has a much larger following among the OBCs than any other party. “Gone are the days when Mandal was with the opposition and the Kamandal with the BJP, today we have both. Had the Congress not sat on the Mandal Commission report, today there would have been a much larger number of OBCs in senior government positions. It was the BJP that supported the report,” he said.
Given the heft that OBCs have in states such as Bihar, UP, Gujarat among others, there has been a pressure on the BJP from its allies including the Apna Dal, the Republican Party of India – Athawale and the HAM to support caste-based enumeration. In a bid to pre-empt the opposition from taking credit for the census, BJP’s spokesperson in Bihar, Kuntal Krishna said, “This was supposed to be a socio-economic caste survey...where is the socio- economic data...it is an attempt to mislead the people of Bihar.”
Head of the BJP’s OBC Morcha, K Laxman said Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar should explain why the census does not give a complete picture of the education, social and economic status of the disadvantaged groups. “He should tell us how he intends to address the problems of these groups, what policies will be drafted. They should also tell how the findings will check dynastic politics practised by the RJD and the Congress,” he said.
