With quota hike, Nitish Kumar takes the lead in caste play, may force Congress, BJP hand | Political Pulse News

Nitish’s move will burnish his image as a champion of social justice politics, especially of the EBCs, a bloc he has been nurturing since becoming the CM first in 2005 and retaining the post since. The jury is still out on whether Nitish is playing for a national role, or seeking political survival given that his party is now relegated to being a junior partner to the RJD.

In Bihar, as the survey again underlines, the caste Nitish belongs to, the Kurmis, are numerically much smaller than the Yadavs, the core base of the RJD. The fleshing out of EBC numbers enables Nitish to give a signal to a constituency he carved out, and thus claim the status of an equal with the RJD. If the Yadavs are the largest single group at around 14% of the population as per the caste survey, the EBCs form the biggest chunk at about 36% of total.

With the INDIA bloc making caste census a key poll agenda, Nitish has in one go projected himself as the symbol of it by walking the talk. His backward class identity is another advantage, compared to the Congress first family and Mamata Banerjee.

Significantly, the Uttar Pradesh unit of Nitish’s party JD(U) recently urged him to contest next year’s Lok Sabha elections from Phulpur, a seat represented by the country’s first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nitish, who has an uneasy relationship with the Gandhis at best, hoped to have a bigger role in the INDIA formulation, and has expressed his unhappiness over the Congress pace on alliance talks, is unlikely to go easy on the grand old party over the caste issue. Especially when, in speech after speech, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have been promising a caste census if voted to power.

But for the Congress, it is easier said than done, as examples from states ruled by it show. In Karnataka, where there is a growing demand for release of the Socio-Economic and Education Survey conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes in 2015-2016, the Siddaramaiah government is dithering for fear of inviting the ire of dominant caste groups like the Lingayats and Vokkaligas. In Maharashtra, the pushback from the OBCs to the demand for Maratha reservation shows how tricky the path is.

Plus, the BJP can be trusted to catch on to whichever way the wind is blowing and prepare its counter. Given the potency of caste as a reply to its Hindutva pitch – as demonstrated once earlier during Mandal times – the BJP has already hinted that its position on a caste census is not inflexible. During a recent poll campaign speech, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the BJP was never opposed to the idea of a caste census. Its Bihar unit voted along with the Nitish government in passing the Bill to hike the reservation cover.

A BJP meeting held some days ago in Delhi, attended by its top leaders, especially from the OBC community, reportedly thrashed out the pros and cons of the party’s current position holding back on a caste count. A decision was taken to form a committee to frame OBC outreach programmes.

One option before the Modi government to reach out to the OBCs, who have put their faith in the BJP in recent years, is to implement the Justice Rohini Commission’s report on sub-categorisation of OBCs. This could reassure the upper castes, who have always been steadfast BJP supporters, that the extremely backward caste sentiment can be addressed by the Centre without eating into their share.

Significantly, should that happen and Nitish again jump sides and go back to the NDA – as many insist he might – he can justify it as his commitment to EBC empowerment above any other loyalty.

A senior JD(U) leader said they expected both the Congress and BJP leadership to come under pressure due to the Bihar government’s move. “The Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi, has smartly started talking about a caste census. The conservative, upper class leadership in the Congress is forced to remain silent because Rahul has taken a line,” he said.

The leader added that both the BJP and the Congress have historically baulked at reservation, unlike the Janata parties, but that the situation has changed. “Today, no party has the courage to openly oppose reservation.”

On whether this would burnish Nitish’s profile at the national level, the JD(U) leader said: “It is Nitish who took the lead in the formation of the INDIA alliance.” Asked whether his stature will rise further, he said: “His acceptability has definitely increased… We don’t claim leadership but his acceptability has risen. Rajneeti mein yeh bhi hota hai, jiska sawal badha, woh neta badha (This is politics, the person who raises the bigger questions is the bigger leader)… why Modi became the biggest leader in the BJP… Godhra ke baad Hindutva ka agenda uske naam ho gaya (After Godhra, he claimed the Hindutva agenda).