In the midst of elections, the genie of reservation has once again emerged from the bottle.
The Congress is leaving no stone unturned in cornering the government on the issue of reservation. But the question remains whether the Congress wants to revive the Mandal Commission to advance the politics of caste, as it has clearly stated in its manifesto that if it comes to power, it will abolish the reservation limit of 50%. In a way, it will increase reservation in the country, which may reduce the rights of dominant castes in government jobs. Along with this, the promise to conduct a caste census has also been made by the Congress. Rahul Gandhi has already talked about conducting an economic survey, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also made an issue.
In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before the elections, had raised the slogan of crossing 400 seats this time. The Congress and the entire opposition have linked that slogan with ending reservation. In the midst of this, in the first phase, with low voting, the issue of reservation seems to be working for the Congress. Meanwhile, the media coordinator of the Congress, Jayaram Ramesh, has been issuing statements almost daily that the BJP is anti-reservation.
In the same vein, their leader Rahul Gandhi has even said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a gang that wants to end reservation, and Narendra Modi is its leader. In a way, the Congress believes that the BJP can be defeated on the issue of reservation alone. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and now RSS Mohan Bhagwat have also said that reservation will never be abolished. Whoever is propagating the idea of ending reservation is wrong. The BJP and the Sangh also feel that the Congress can divide communities on the issue of reservation.
But on the other hand, there is another aspect of reservation and caste census. Due to the politics of reservation and caste, the Congress was wiped out in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Due to the politics of caste, regional parties took over from the Congress. Not only that, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi always opposed reservation. Indira Gandhi’s slogan was “neither on caste nor on creed, will the stamp be placed, but on the hand.” Not only that, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi never allowed the Mandal Commission report to be released while they were prime ministers. When the report of the Mandal Commission was implemented by the non-Congress Prime Minister VP Singh in 1989, the whole country erupted in violence. VP Singh lost his chair. Not only that, due to being stuck in the politics of caste, the upper castes moved away from the Congress.The BJP advanced the politics of religion and won power with a majority by uniting castes. The Congress once again wants to play the caste card and dominate the politics of religion. It has said so in its manifesto.
Rahul Gandhi is emphasizing the politics of caste in his speeches. But the question also arises as to how the Congress will return to power without the support of dominant castes. Surely, dominant castes will not vote for the Congress if reservation is abolished. If the politics of caste gains momentum, regional parties will become powerful in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Congress will weaken further. Since, the Congress is already contesting elections on limited seats in states where caste politics is dominant. Where the Congress is directly competing with the BJP, the caste card may not work. To play the politics of caste, the BJP has also entered the field of Hindu-Muslim polarization in the name of consolidation.