The fight for the votes of the backward classes besides the powerful Yadav community that is clearly aligned with the Samajwadi Party in the ongoing Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh has become intense, with voting in the first phase of the poll being round the corner. Incidentally, the terms ‘backward class’ and ‘backward caste’ are used inter-changeably in the context of the State.
Social scientists could question the exact percentage of these ‘backward castes’ in Uttar Pradesh in the absence of any authentic data, but a survey carried out by the Social Justice Commission in 2001 put the population of Backward and Most Backward Castes in the State at 52 per cent of the total population. This study was also carried out keeping the backward caste votes in mind. Then Chief Minister Rajnath Singh had advocated a special quota for the Most Backward Castes and a survey was carried out by the Commission to know the exact population of the BCs and the MBCs in Uttar Pradesh.
If this survey report is taken as an indicator, it is clear that the party that gets the maximum support of all the backwards combined would form the next Government. This is the reason all the major political players have promised sops for the backward castes in their election manifestoes. This also explains why parties have also given a large chunk of tickets to people belonging to the backward community. Sample this: The BJP has fielded 126 backward castes, the Samajwadi Party has given tickets to 125 backward caste candidates of the backward castes, the Bahujan Samaj Party has given 113 seats and the Congress 110, in this election. And then there is the Apna Dal — a party dominated by Kurmis — an influential backward caste.
Besides the dominant backward castes like the Yadavs, the Kurmis and the Lodhs, who are well off financially and socially, there are sub-castes like Rajbhar, Nishad, Prajapati, Mallah, Kashyap, Kumhar, Bind, Majhi, Kewat and Gond who want their share in the political pie. In constituencies numbering over 100, these castes are in position to dictate the fortunes of political parties. So, promises and allurements for these castes are coming from all quarters.
The BJP has promised a separate MBC quota for them, while the Samajwadi Party says it would give scheduled caste status to 17 MBCs because they are educationally and financially at par with Dalits. The Congress in its manifesto has promised reservation for backward Muslims and free higher education for backward caste students in State-run residential schools.
The BSP on the other hand is opposed to a sub-quota within the existing 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs. State Chief Minister Mayawati has demanded a separate quota for the backwards but is not willing to cut down on the share of the Dalits and backward castes.
In her election meetings she makes it a point to stress on the welfare projects her Government has reportedly initiated for the backward classes. She claims that only her Government had created a separate Backward Welfare Department while other parties used the backward caste as mere vote-banks.
The political parties have their vote-base clearly defined and demarcated. If the Samajwadi Party enjoys the support of Yadavs and the Muslims, the BJP relies on the backing of the backwards such as Kurmis and Lodhs along with that of the upper caste Brahmins and the Thakurs. The BSP’s support revolves around the Dalits. If Ms Mayawati stitched a rainbow coalition comprising the Dalit and the Brahmins in 2007, this time she is trying to weave the same magic with Dalits and Muslims.
But she is also keeping an eye on the backwards by promising them the Scheduled Caste status. The party had organised many caste based sammelans to lure the MBCs. She is also trying to reach them through the several ‘bhaichara committees’ — small caste-based groups that work at the village and the district levels.
In this melee the Congress seems left out. Earlier, its political prowess rested on the combination of the upper caste, the Dalits and the Muslims. With this coalition crumbling apart in last two decades or so the Congress leadership has turned its eyes towards the backwards castes, but with little success so far. The promise of a sub-quota within the backward quota was an attempt in this direction.
Not only this, the Congress has projected some backward leaders like Union Minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma, a well-known backward face in the area around Barabanki, Bahraich and Gonda in eastern Uttar Pradesh, as Chief Ministerial candidate.
This area is dominated by the Kurmis — the caste to which Mr Verma belongs to, and could be a potent political field where the Congress could win a handful of seats. Of course, Mr Verma’s personal unpopularity in the region is a dampener for the Congress.
For the BJP, Kalyan Singh was the backward face. After he parted ways, there was a vacuum. The arrival of Uma Bharati, who is a Lodh, the caste to which Mr Kalyan Singh belongs, could fill in that gap for the BJP.
