The maya of Behenji’s Dalit politics

Jiski jitni sankhya bhari, uski utni hissedari (the greater the number, the greater the political representation). This was the slogan coined by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram in the early 1980s. His successor Mayawati rode to power in Uttar Pradesh four times using this slogan to her advantage. She organised district, region and state-level meetings of deprived castes like Dhobi, Kumhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Khatik and Pasi, with the aim of empowering them and making them aware of their rightful claim to State resources, including power.

At the same time, the move was also aimed at uniting caste groups into a consolidated vote bank for the BSP. Mayawati succeeded in getting a large number of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to shift their loyalties from the Congress to the BSP. She did provide them representation — however nominal or symbolic — in state legislature, Parliament and her council of ministers.

It therefore came as a surprise when Mayawati not only opposed the Supreme Court verdict delivered on 1 August allowing sub-quotas within the SC/ST quota, but also demanded that the Centre enact a law to overturn the apex court's judgement.

The Supreme Court held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the SCs, which form a socially heterogeneous class, in order to grant reservation to castes that are socially and educationally more backward.

“Our party doesn’t agree with it because atrocities faced by SCs and STs have been faced as a group and this group is equal; it would not be right to do any kind of sub-classification”, Mayawati said, adding that the Centre should amend the law in Parliament and bring it into the ninth schedule of the Constitution, to protect it from future judicial interventions.

“Those who say that SCs and STs have become economically strong, I would tell them that only 10 or 11 per cent of these people may have become financially better off; the condition of the remaining 90 per cent remains very bad. With this decision, about 90 per cent of the people who need reservation will be left out. If they are removed, it will be disappointing,” she added.

If Mayawati’s stance in the 1980s and the 1990s was driven by vote bank politics, her current U-turn is driven by the same reason. After she lost power in UP in 2012, her vote bank gradually drifted towards Narendra Modi’s BJP as Modi pitched his ‘Most Backward’ identity to draw a big chunk of Dalits, especially non-Jatavs, away from the BSP to the BJP. The Jatavs, the biggest caste group among the SCs in UP, remained loyal to the BSP led by Mayawati, who is from their own community.

A number of studies have empirically demonstrated that more than three-fourths of reservation is cornered by just a couple of dominant groups in every quota. If Yadavs and Kurmis among the OBCs corner the lion’s share, then Jatavs and Pasis among Dalits are the beneficiaries of almost 80–90 per cent. The sub-classification would empower castes other than Jatavs and Pasis who were getting benefits disproportionate to their population, turning the BSP’s hissedari slogan on its head.

This sentiment was echoed by former Bihar chief minister and present Union minister for micro, small and medium enterprises Jitan Ram Manjhi, who said, “Only four castes have been taking all reservation benefits for the past 76 years, while castes like Bhuiya, Dom, Mehtar and Musahar are still backward.” Similarly, in other states, the primary beneficiaries have been Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs in Punjab, Malas in Andhra Pradesh, Paswans in Bihar, Jatavs in Uttar Pradesh and Arundhatiyars in Tamil Nadu.

The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 lists 1,109 castes across 28 states. Uttar Pradesh, for example, has 66 Scheduled Castes in list, while Bihar has 23 castes categorised as SCs.

The Rohini Commission constituted by the Modi government to sub-categorise OBCs had found 2,633 castes which it had divided into four categories according to population and benefits received from the government.

Besides Mayawati, another prominent Dalit leader, Chirag Paswan from Bihar, has also demanded legislation to override the Supreme Court judgement. Like the Jatavs, who comprise more than half the Dalit population in UP, the Paswans in Bihar are the dominant caste among the SCs and major voters for Paswan's Lok Janashakti Party (R). This explains why Mayawati and Paswan are concerned.

Interestingly, the LJP (R) is a constituent of the ruling NDA at the Centre. While BJP leaders have wholeheartedly welcomed the SC judgement, Paswan has struck a discordant note. However, he is unlikely to leave the NDA over this issue: his opposition to the verdict is mainly to pander to his Pasi vote bank.

If sub-classification is implemented, Jatavs in UP and Paswans in Bihar are likely to lose some of the edge they currently enjoy in seeking reservation benefits, while the other backward castes among SCs and STs will get more opportunities. Thus, Mayawati and Paswan are only echoing the apprehensions of their vote banks, rather than fighting for the Dalit community as a whole.

Through this judgement, the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud wanted to ensure that benefits trickle down to those who need them most. Mayawati’s concern regarding political parties using the sub-classification provision for political advantage, and possible confusion between the Centre and states cannot be ruled out.

However, in principle, the Supreme Court is right in acknowledging that the SC/ ST community is not necessarily “a uniform and internally homogenous class which cannot be further classified”.

Mayawati’s grouse is disproportional ‘quota’ to upper castes. The total percentage of quota for SCs, STs and OBCs in most states is still capped at 50 per cent. Upper castes, despite comprising only 21-22 per cent of the country’s population, have been bagging the remaining 50 per cent seats in educational institutions and public sector and government jobs.

“While everyone is talking of sub-classification of OBCs, SCs and STs, why aren’t they demanding sub-classification of upper castes as well? Brahmins constitute only 9-10 per cent of UP’s population but everyone knows that they hog more than 30–35 per cent of government jobs,” says a senior BSP leader.

Another Dalit leader cites prevalent discrimination as a reason to oppose the move: “Even if a Dalit becomes an IAS, upper castes, mainly Brahmins, don’t see him as an equal. He remains at the receiving end of caste-related barbs throughout his life. That is why SCs should be treated as a class and not as different castes.”

Mayawati accuses the Centre and the BJP — which claims to be supportive of the SC/ ST community—of not arguing the case before the Supreme Court effectively enough. She also accused the Congress of maintaining an ambivalent attitude on the issue.

As the debate on caste and reservation hots up, the last word clearly has not been heard yet.