RAIPUR: With OBC votes accounting for nearly half the electors, the rising chorus for caste census is not only unanimous but also arithmetically quintessential for survival in tactical vote-bank politics in the Hindi heartland of Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh will have a two-phase polling on November 7 and November 17 for the 90-member House. Besides the tribals, the caste combinations remain the abiding feature in the bipolar politics of the state having 2.03 crore voters. The Other Backward Classes support in some measures was seen uniformly divided between the BJP and Congress ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls, though the BJP always had an edge since the 2003 elections.
The OBC voters’ proclivity apparently also worked in constituencies reserved for the ST and the SC in 2018 when Congress returned to power with a landslide. The principal contenders have OBC leaders in top positions. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, BJP state chief Arun Sao, and leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Narayan Chandel are from the OBC background.
There are 22 OBC legislators in the 90-member House and 18 among them are Congress MLAs. Out of the 11 Lok Sabha MPs in the state, five belong to OBCs. The race for the OBC pie began early this year when in March, the BJP railed against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged insult to the OBCs. The BJP’s key tactic is to win back the OBC support. Fully aware of the saffron game plan, the ruling Congress turned around to question the BJP’s silence on the 27% OBC reservation in the amendment bills that earmarked the quota to 76%.
The Baghel government’s quota bill has not got the Governor’s nod ever since it was unanimously passed in the House on December 3 last year. “If BJP is a well-wisher of OBCs, why didn’t it appeal to the Raj Bhavan,” asked Baghel. The Congress strategy to get the OBC leaders to lead the poll campaign in 2018 resulted in outstanding results in the party’s victory. It won 68 seats. The main contenders for the chief minister’s post — Bhupesh Baghel, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Charandas Mahant — belong to the OBC.
Key factor in SC/ST areas
There are 22 OBC legislators in the 90 -member House and 18 among them are Congress MLAs. Out of the 11 LS MPs in the state, five belong to OBCs.