LUCKNOW: The Centre’s decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census is set to create political ripples in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most politically significant state, by reshaping caste-based alignments that dominate its political landscape.
The move is likely to accelerate long-pending demands from BJP allies in the state for a sub-quota within the OBC and SC/ST categories.
Parties such as Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Dr Sanjay Nishad’s NISHAD Party and Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (S) have consistently advocated the division of broader caste groups into sub-categories to ensure equitable distribution of reservation benefits.
The demand for “quota within quota” stems from the findings of the Rohini Commission, constituted in 2017 to examine sub-categorisation of OBCs. Headed by Justice G Rohini, retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, the four-member panel submitted its report in 2023, recommending a fairer allocation of reservation based on internal disparities among OBC communities.
This argument for equitable distribution was previously echoed in Uttar Pradesh when the state government set up a social justice committee under retired judge Justice Raghvendra Kumar.
The committee, in its 2018 report, recommended dividing OBCs into three groups: backward (12 sub-castes), more backward (59 sub-castes) and most backward (79 sub-castes). Similarly, the Dalits were also split into three groups: Dalit (4 sub-castes), Ati Dalit (31) and Maha Dalit (46).
While Apna Dal (S), largely representing the backward Kurmi community, supported the caste census, it remained lukewarm to the committee’s recommendations, possibly fearing a backlash from socially dominant Kurmis.
To push the agenda further, SBSP chief and Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday. According to SBSP national general secretary Arun Rajbhar, the issue remains high on the party’s agenda.
It is worth noting that SBSP had allied with the BJP during the 2017 assembly elections, and OP Rajbhar was inducted into the Yogi Adityanath cabinet. However, the party later parted ways in 2019 over the non-implementation of the social justice committee’s recommendations.
“The party is thankful to PM Modi and the BJP’s central leadership for deciding in favour of caste census to help determine the social, economic, and political position of various OBCs and the SC population, ensuring a better distribution of resources leading to social justice in the true sense,” said Rajbhar.
Political experts believe that while the Centre’s move could strengthen the BJP’s grip over its smaller allies, who frequently invoke the sub-quota demand to stay relevant, it may also intensify caste-based mobilisation. The sub-categorisation could potentially alter electoral calculations by directing more quota benefits towards marginalised sub-castes.
Rajbhar added that the social justice committee’s report was a “clear reflection of the socio-economic conditions of the oppressed classes.”
Sources indicated that the SBSP continues to press for factoring in the committee’s recommendations to carve out quotas within the broader OBC and SC/ST categories.