BJP and Congress court OBC votes, but duck the quota question

In the realm of Indian politics, two key demands have emerged from the ranks of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs): a specific Census column to count them akin to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), and a constitutional amendment to grant reservation in line with their population proportions, which would surpass 50% of the total populace.

Incidentally, the OBCs constitute more than half of India's population, as per the 1931 Census. The INDIA bloc, spearheaded by the Congress, placed the first demand on its election agenda. Conversely, the NDA—led by the BJP—contended that such an exercise risked inflaming divisions ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Post the 2024 election, the BJP's seat tally dwindled from an anticipated 400+ to 240.

The NDA has since acknowledged that its earlier stance on the caste census had contributed to a drop in its vote share. Concurrently, the Congress witnessed a surge in its seat count during this electoral cycle. The escalating clamor from OBC associations nationwide for a caste census compelled the NDA government to officially commit to this task in April 2025.

However, the absence of a comprehensive caste data post-1941, particularly post-Independence, has negatively impacted the OBCs' educational, employment, and political standing. The Kaka Kalelkar Commission and the Mandal Commission, established in the wake of Independence, relied on the 1931 caste census for their policy recommendations.

The Congress, which governed India for over four decades since 1947, did not seek to rekindle the caste census, perceiving the importance of OBC votes only in recent times, attempting to divert them away from the BJP. The OBC enumeration thus became a cornerstone of Indian politics in the 2020s. The Congress, during its tenure, promised a caste survey during the 2023 Telangana Assembly polls and a 42% reservation in local bodies.

Yet, it faltered in fulfilling the latter pledge due to judicial impediments. Similarly, in Maharashtra in 2021, the Supreme Court struck down the 27% OBC reservation in local body elections, citing the failure to meet three prerequisites: forming a dedicated commission to assess "backwardness," utilizing the commission's findings to determine the reservation percentage, and ensuring that the combined reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs does not exceed the 50% cap set in the Indra Sawhney v Union of India (1992) case.

In Congress-ruled Karnataka, a flexible approach prevailed: whenever the SC and ST population dipped below the reservation quota, the OBC quota was increased to 33%, never breaching the 50% threshold. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh follow suit with 27% and 14% OBC reservations in local bodies, respectively. In a recent development, the Andhra Pradesh government under Chandrababu Naidu, the party's biggest OBC votebank, announced plans to boost OBC reservation to 34%, in line with its "Super Six" election manifesto.

However, this decision was quashed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, though the Supreme Court later overturned the decision. It's pertinent to note that in 1987, during the Congress government under Kiran Kumar Reddy, the OBC reservation in local bodies was set at 20%, which was later expanded to 34% by the Naidu-led NDA government till 2014.

The BJP, the ruling party today, has yet to champion the 34% OBC quota in Parliament, whereas the Congress has. Despite acknowledging the history surrounding the OBC reservation, the Naidu government chose to approach the Supreme Court instead of pushing for a constitutional amendment. The demand for EWS reservation of 10% via a constitutional amendment has also been raised in Parliament by the NDA, but not by the Congress or the BJP. The latter continues to prioritize the BC votebank.