On the very first day of August, the Supreme Court had increased the interest in Dalit politics in the country by accepting the division of SC-ST quota. The court had said that this decision will benefit the extremely backward castes. The judges believed that some castes work as sewer cleaners and some as weavers. Both of them belong to Scheduled Caste and struggle with untouchability. But some people face more harassment depending on their work. After this historic decision of the court, not only BJP but also the opposition was showing a welcoming mood.
Two Chief Ministers of Congress openly welcomed this decision. But Dalit leaders had made their stand clear from the very beginning that they were not in favor of this decision. From BSP chief Mayawati to LJP (Ram Vilas), all Dalit leaders were seen opposing this decision. BJP, which had suffered the loss of Save Constitution-Save Reservation slogan, was taking steps with full force. Finally, on August 9, SCST MPs of BJP met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM assured the MPs that this decision of the Supreme Court will not be implemented. Late in the night on August 9 itself, the Union Cabinet also took a decision in this regard that this decision will not be implemented. Seeing this decision of Bharatiya Janata Party, there was a stir among the parties of India Alliance. Congress and Samajwadi Party also took hasty decisions. Within no time, the country’s politics changed on the issue of Dalit sub-quota.
Congress’s changed stance
On the same day the Supreme Court approved the decision on Dalit sub-quota, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy welcomed the decision and announced that the decision on sub-quota will be followed in all future recruitments in his state. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also said that this decision will be implemented soon in his state. Due to the existence of Congress governments in both these states, the general feeling was that the party would welcome this decision. But the official statement from the Congress party did not come. It may be possible that Congress leaders want to see the stance of Bharatiya Janata Party first. Because Yogendra Yadav, who played an important role in Rahul Gandhi’s bilateral visits to India and became famous as a sephologist, wrote an article in the Indian Express praising this decision of the Supreme Court. After this article by Yadav, it was believed that Rahul Gandhi would also soon praise this decision. But meanwhile, on August 9, BJP distanced itself from the Supreme Court’s decision to create a quota in the Dalit quota. The Central Government made it clear that the government believes in implementing reservation as per the Constitution made by Bhim Rao Ambedkar. It was obvious that Congress changed its policy in a hurry. On August 10, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also opposed the Dalit sub-quota.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday expressed his opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision on sub-categorization and ‘creamy layer’ within Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), saying that the government should take this decision through Parliament as soon as it comes. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to end reservation and also said that no one should recognize the decision of the creamy layer, and as long as there is untouchability, reservation should remain.
Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav’s round answer
Dalits have been accusing Samajwadi Party from the beginning that this party had opposed reservation in promotion. Not only this, there has also been an allegation of changing the names of districts and parks built by the Mayawati government in the name of Dalit great men. Despite this, in the Lok Sabha elections held this year, Samajwadi Party has achieved the biggest success in Uttar Pradesh on the strength of Dalit votes. Obviously, Akhilesh Yadav had to come forward to keep his PDA formula strong. Earlier, like Congress and BJP, Akhilesh Yadav also did not realize that there would be such strong opposition to this decision among the Dalit community. Perhaps this was the reason that after the decision was announced on 1st August, Akhilesh Yadav neither spoke nor wrote anything about this decision till 11th August. But due to the changing stance of Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, Akhilesh Yadav also thought it right to take the same path. On August 11, he wrote on X…
‘The basic objective of any kind of reservation should be the empowerment of the neglected society, and not the division or disintegration of that society, this violates the basic principle of reservation.
The gap of discrimination and inequality of opportunities that has been going on for countless generations cannot be bridged by the changes that have taken place in a few generations. ‘Reservation’ is the constitutional way to empower and strengthen the exploited and deprived society, this will bring change, there is no need to change its provisions.
The BJP government every time tries to weaken the reservation fight through its evasive statements and lawsuits, then when under pressure from various components of the PDA, pretends to back down by showing lip service. The internal thinking of BJP has always been anti-reservation. That is why the trust of 90% of PDA society in BJP is continuously falling. BJP’s credibility on the issue of reservation has reached zero.
For PDA, ‘Constitution’ is lifesaver, while ‘Reservation’ is lifeline!
However, people are still looking at Akhilesh Yadav’s breaking of silence with suspicion. Journalist Vinod Sharma says that Akhilesh Yadav has said things in a very roundabout way. His style of protest is not visible in this. It seems as if he is giving a statement out of compulsion.
Why did BJP have to take such a decision?
The decision taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party not to implement the decision of the Supreme Court cannot be called a sudden decision. However, the opinion given by the Central Government in the Supreme Court on Dalit sub-quota was in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court. Despite this, the party did not release its official statement. BJP was sure to get the support of its two main allies Janata Dal United and Telugu Desam parties in this matter. Because both Janata Dal U and Telugu Desam had openly welcomed this decision. Only LJP (Ram Vilas) had talked about filing a petition in the Supreme Court against this decision. Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, another Dalit face of the allied parties, neither opposed nor supported this decision. He thought it best to remain silent. Despite this, if the Bharatiya Janata Party did not show the courage to go along with the decision of the Supreme Court, then there are many reasons behind it.
In fact, according to the CSDS survey, this time in the Lok Sabha elections in UP, Jatavs had voted more for BJP than last time. Whereas non-Jatav votes went with Samajwadi Party and Congress. It was visible that Jatavs were opposing this decision the most. Secondly, the party knew that if it supported this decision, the opposition would accuse it of tampering with the Constitution with double the force. Bharatiya Janata Party knows how much loss it has suffered in the Lok Sabha elections due to the slogan of saving the Constitution. Therefore, BJP has tried to take lead over the Dalit politics of these parties by opposing the Dalit sub-quota before Congress and Samajwadi Party.