On the very first day of August, the Supreme Court had increased the excitement of Dalit politics in the country by accepting the division of SC-ST quota. The court had said that this decision would benefit the most backward castes. The judges believed that some castes do the work of cleaning sewers, some do the work of weaving. Both come under the Scheduled Caste and struggle with untouchability. But some people face more oppression according to their work. After this historic decision of the court, not only the BJP but also the opposition was in a mood to welcome it.
Two chief ministers of Congress openly welcomed this decision. But Dalit leaders had made their stand clear at the very beginning that they were not with this decision. From BSP chief Mayawati to LJP (Ram Vilas), all Dalit leaders were seen opposing this decision. BJP, which had suffered the loss due to the slogan ‘Save Constitution-Save Reservation’, was moving cautiously. Finally, on 9 August, SC/ST 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 night on 9 August, the Union Cabinet also took a decision in this regard that this decision will not be implemented. Seeing this decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party, there was a stir in the parties of the All India Alliance. Congress and Samajwadi Party also took decisions in a hurry. In no time, the politics of the country changed on the Dalit quota.
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On the same day when the Supreme Court approved the decision on Dalit sub-quota, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy welcomed the decision and announced that the decision of quota within quota will be followed in all future recruitments in his state. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also said that this decision will be implemented in his state soon. Due to Congress governments in both these states, the general assumption was that the party will welcome this decision. But the official statement of the Congress party did not come. It is possible that the Congress leaders first want to see the stand of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Because Yogendra Yadav, who played an important role in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatras and became famous as a psephologist, wrote an article in the Indian Express and praised this decision of the Supreme Court. After this article of Yadav, it was believed that Rahul Gandhi would also praise this decision soon. But in the meantime, on August 9, BJP distanced itself from the Supreme Court’s decision to make quota within Dalit quota. The central government made it clear that the government believes in implementing reservation according to 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 protested against the Supreme Court’s decision on sub-classification and ‘creamy layer’ within Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), saying the government should have repealed the decision through Parliament as soon as it came. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to end reservation and also said that no one should recognize the creamy layer decision, and as long as untouchability exists, reservation should remain.
Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav’s vague answer
Dalits have been accusing the Samajwadi Party from the beginning that it opposed reservation in promotions. Not only this, it has also been accused of changing the names of districts and parks built by the Mayawati government in the name of Dalit great men. Despite this, in this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party has achieved the biggest success in Uttar Pradesh on the strength of Dalit votes. It is obvious that Akhilesh Yadav had to come forward to keep his PDA formula strong. Earlier, like the Congress and the BJP, Akhilesh Yadav also did not realize that this decision would face such strong opposition in the Dalit community. Perhaps this was the reason that after the decision came on August 1, Akhilesh Yadav did not speak or write anything about this decision till August 11. But due to the changing attitude of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav also thought it right to take the same path. On August 11, he wrote on X…
‘The main objective of any kind of reservation should be the empowerment of the neglected society, not the division or disintegration of that society, this disregards the basic principle of reservation.
The discrimination and unequal opportunities that have been going on for countless generations cannot be bridged by the changes that have come in a few generations. ‘Reservation’ is the constitutional way to empower and strengthen the exploited and deprived society, this is what will bring about change, there is no need to change its provisions.
The BJP government tries to weaken the fight for reservation every time through its vague statements and lawsuits, then when the various components of the PDA put pressure on it, it pretends to back down by showing superficial sympathy. The internal thinking of the BJP has always been against reservation. That is why the trust of 90% of the PDA community on the BJP is continuously declining. The credibility of the BJP on the issue of reservation has become zero.
For PDA, ‘Constitution’ is a lifesaver, while ‘Reservation’ is oxygen!’
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 roundabout way. His style of protesting is not visible in this. It seems as if he is giving a statement under compulsion.
Why did BJP have to take such a decision
The decision taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party to not implement the Supreme Court’s decision cannot be called a sudden decision. However, the opinion given by the Central Government in the Supreme Court on Dalit sub-quota was in line with the Supreme Court’s decision. Despite this, the party did not issue its official statement. BJP was sure to get the support of its two major 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. Another Dalit face of the allied parties, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, neither opposed nor supported this decision. He thought it appropriate to remain silent. Despite this, if the Bharatiya Janata Party did not show the courage to go with the Supreme Court’s decision, then there are many reasons behind it.
In fact, if we believe the CSDS survey, then this time in the Lok Sabha elections in UP, Jatavs voted more for BJP than last time. Whereas non-Jatav votes went with Samajwadi Party and Congress. It was seen that Jatavs are opposing this decision the most. Another thing was that the party knows that if this decision is supported, the opposition will accuse it of tampering with the Constitution with double the force. Bharatiya Janata Party knows how much damage it has suffered in the Lok Sabha elections due to the slogan of Save Constitution. Therefore, BJP has tried to take an edge over the Dalit politics of these parties by opposing the Dalit sub-quota before Congress and Samajwadi Party.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)