The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled on the legality of creating a quota within the quota in SC-ST categories. The court gave the right to the states to create quotas within the quota reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The court’s decision is based on the premise that it will benefit extremely backward castes. The judges believe that some castes, such as those who clean sewers, are more backward than others, such as those who work as weavers, even though both fall under the Scheduled Caste category and struggle with untouchability.
However, the arguments of those opposing this decision are also quite serious. His words also cannot be denied. Perhaps this is the reason why till now all the famous Dalit leaders, thinkers, journalists etc. are seen opposing the decision. The biggest leader of Dalits, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has also opposed this decision on Friday. But this decision has created the biggest problem for Congress and BJP. Congress has been raising the slogan of save the Constitution for the last few days. If seen, this decision is a direct attack on the Constitution. But Congress has not yet opposed this decision. Not only this, the Congress government of Telangana has also announced to implement reservation on the basis of this decision. The Congress government of Karnataka has also already made preparations to make a law for sub-quota among Dalits. Nowadays, the central leadership of Congress is taking bold steps on every issue. This is the reason why they are neither able to accept this decision nor to oppose it. On the other hand, BJP also has the same position.
1-Why did it become difficult for Congress?
In Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party had shown the way to Congress out of power in UP. Because the Dalit community, the core voters of the Congress, was attracted by the Bahujan Samaj Party. But Congress leaders are very excited by the way Dalit votes have been polarized in favor of Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the votes of Bahujan Samaj Party have decreased. Congress feels that Dalit leaders in Uttar Pradesh can return to Congress again. But Congress must have lost sleep due to the manner in which opposition to sub-quota in the Dalit quota of the Supreme Court has started. Because the way Congress leaders in the South are supporting the sub-quota, the picture is that Congress is in support of this decision of the Supreme Court. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy have supported this decision of the Supreme Court. Welcomed.
Secondly, Congress leaders have been saying that if BJP government comes to power, the Constitution and reservation will be in danger. Now Congress leaders themselves are supporting the decision that breaks the constitutional system of reservation. However, there is no official response from the party on the Supreme Court decision yet. Perhaps this is the reason why many big Congress Dalit leaders of North India are silent or protesting. Major Dalit leader of Congress Udit Raj has opposed the decision of the Supreme Court and said that the court’s decision is anti-reservation.
2-Dalit leaders across the country are protesting in one voice, it is obvious that Dalit public opinion will go with them.
Big Dalit faces from across the country are opposing this decision. It is obvious that when Dalits are protesting, public opinion will also go with them. Former CM of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati has raised questions on the classification order of the Supreme Court. Mayawati has asked that political oppression is nothing compared to social oppression? Have the lives of crores of Dalits and tribals of the country become free from hatred and discrimination, with self-respect and self-respect? If not, then how fair is the distribution of reservation among these classes that have been broken and left out on the basis of caste? Mayawati has also targeted the Congress and BJP governments. He has said that the government should explain why these reservations were not kept in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution?
BR Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar told The Indian Express that if any sub-categorization of these reserved groups has to be done, it should be done by Parliament. The Supreme Court’s decision allowing states to sub-categorize Scheduled Castes is a victory for those sections who have been demanding it. Saying that sub-categorization requires a ‘national approach’, Ambedkar pointed out that reservation for SC/ST/OBC was formulated and adopted in Parliament..
Chandrashekhar Azad, founder of Bhim Army and head of Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), says that this has been the policy of divide and rule. After a long time SC and ST have come together. I would like to know how many judges and lawyers involved in the case are from SC/ST community. Do they understand the pain of discrimination faced by these communities? Mayawati was the CM of UP, but even today she is known as a Dalit leader.
Expressing concern over the apex court’s decision, Samastipur Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Shambhavi Chaudhary said, I think it is unfair because the concept of creamy layer is only for OBCs. Reservation itself was implemented for social representation and not for economic backwardness. Therefore now you cannot say that social injustice and economic inequality are the same thing. There cannot be any subdivision in something which has a different basis.
Senior journalist Dilip Mandal, who has become famous as a Dalit thinker, has been continuously pursuing the Supreme Court for this decision on X. Obviously, these Dalit leaders will be the voice of the common Dalit people tomorrow.
3-Is there an opportunity for BJP in disaster?
Bharatiya Janata Party has also been engaged for a long time in attracting Dalit votes. He has also got success in this. But in the 2024 elections, India Alliance’s Save Constitution-Save Reservation campaign worked. The Dalit class felt that if BJP gets 400 seats then it is possible that the Constitution may be changed. CSDS survey shows that before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Dalit votes were shifting towards BJP very rapidly. But in 2024, only Jatav votes have voted more for BJP than last time. It is clear that the castes which are rich among Dalits and whose social status is close to the backward classes have not voted for BJP. Jatavs are the most backward and they face more discrimination socially. BJP’s strategy from the beginning has been to classify quotas. For this, the party has also tried to distribute the quota of OBC category in many states. If BJP wants, it can try to win over the Jatav community by creating a separate quota for the Jatav community in Uttar Pradesh.
BSP supremo Mayawati comes from Jatav caste. Despite this, the manner in which Jatav votes have gone towards BJP instead of Congress and Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha elections can be called an encouraging situation for the party. According to CSDS survey, in UP 2012, BJP got 5 percent Jatav votes and 11 percent non-Jatav votes. Similarly, in the 2022 assembly elections, BJP got 21 percent Jatav votes and 41 percent non-Jatav votes. In 2024, NDA got only 29 percent votes of non-Jatav Dalits, which is much less than the 48 percent votes it got in 2019. However, NDA has improved its vote share among Jatavs. In 2019, it got only 17 percent votes of Jatavs, whereas in 2024, its vote share increased to 24 percent. This means that if NDA pays a little attention, the share of Dalit Jatav votes can increase in the future elections.
However, BJP is also refraining from speaking in favor or against this decision. But in the Supreme Court, the vote given by the Central Government was in support of the quota. Therefore, it is obvious that BJP will be accused of putting the Constitution in trouble.