Gandhinagar: The Narendra Modi government’s move to provide ten per cent reservation to the economically weaker sections is old Gujarati ‘wine’ in a new national bottle, the constitutional amendment route notwithstanding. Hemmed in by the pro-reservation patidar agitation, the then Anandiben Patel led BJP government in Gujarat on April 30, 2016 had announced a new 10 per cent quota in jobs and college admissions for the economically backward upper classes through an Ordinance in a bid to defuse the traction gaining stir. The decision was taken at a core committee meeting of the Gujarat BJP in which national president Amit Shah was also present. The new quota took the state past the 50 per cent reservation limit set by the Supreme Court.
Gujarat then had 48 per cent reservation which included 7 per cent reservation for scheduled castes, 14 per cent for scheduled tribes and 27 per cent for OBCs. The PAAS had rejected the move as a mere lollipop. The 10 per cent reservation for the economically backward classes (EBC) was predictably quashed by the Gujarat High Court in August 2016. The Court held that it was unconstitutional and contrary to fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The state government has challenged the order in the Supreme Court.
The Congress opposition in Gujarat has on three occasions, beginning February 2016 sought to bring a private members bill for 20 per cent reservation for the EBCs only to be fobbed off by the ruling BJP government on one pretext or the other, says Congress spokesperson Dr Manish Doshi, adding that one is still pending in the State Assembly. Former Gujarat chief minister Suresh Mehta, who possesses a legal background, doubts that the Modi government’s move to use the route of constitutional amendment will work. “It is an eye-wash to hoodwink the people with the ensuing lok sabha elections in mind. Getting it through the Rajya Sabha remains a major hurdle in an election year. One hopes that people see through this move,” he adds.
Caught in the caste quagmire, and almost toppled from their power perch in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections, successive BJP governments in the state sink further, every time they try to beat their way out of it. Its latest move came on December 8, 2018 when it put out a list of 69 castes and sub-groups among hindus, muslims, Christians, jains, parsis as well as jews who would be defined as “unreserved classes”. Officially the list is designed to provide caste certificates to those from the unreserved castes so that they can get benefits under the Gujarat Unreserved Educational and Economical Development Corporation Scheme of 2017. “This in effect means that the government has now created a new caste category called the ‘unreserved castes,” points out a political analyst. The fact is that the Vijay Rupani government found itself handicapped after its own party government in neighbouring Maharashtra founded a new ‘socio-education backward class’ to grant reservation benefits to Marathas. The move is yet to pass judicial muster. PAAS reservation spearhead Hardik patel was quick to pounce on the issue questioning how Maharashtra could do it and Gujarat failed. “If it is possible constitutionally in Maharashtra, how come Gujarat failed lamely stating that beyond 50 per cent reservation was not possible,” adding that the BJP was duplicitious to the core.
