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With OBC panel revamp, BJP aims to win back community’s support
The move comes after sections of the OBCs had drifted to the opposition INDIA bloc in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, reducing the BJP’s tally in Uttar Pradesh to 33 from 62 in the 2019 general election.
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With the BJP sharpening its focus on Other Backward Classes (OBCs) after the 2024 Lok Sabha poll results in Uttar Pradesh came as a setback for the party, the Yogi Adityanath government has reconstituted the Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Backward Classes after a long wait of two years in a bid to win back the support of this dominant community.
The move comes after sections of the OBCs had drifted to the opposition INDIA bloc in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, reducing the BJP’s tally in Uttar Pradesh to 33 from 62 in the 2019 general election.
The OBCs constitute the single-largest caste group in the state and their population varies between 40 and 45 per cent. Out of 80 Lok Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh, 34 belong to the OBC community.
“By redressing grievances of the OBC community, the state government will try to reach out to the backward castes in the state and ensure that this powerful vote bank remains with the BJP,” said a prominent leader of the BJP’s OBC Morcha.
The Other Backward Classes hold sway in around 50 parliamentary constituencies in the state.
The OBC Commission had been lying defunct for two years, causing pendency of around 5000 applications.
It will be a Herculean task for the newly appointed chairman of the OBC commission Rajesh Verma, former BJP MP from Sitapur, to dispose of this pendency.
Apart from the chairman, the government has also appointed two vice chairmen and 24 people from various backward communities as members of the commission.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav’s PDA (pichda, Dalit and Alpasankhyak) poll plank became the biggest gainer for OBC votes in the 2024 polls
Even the OBC-based parties like the Apna Dal (Sonelal), NISHAD, SBSP, which are allies of the ruling party, failed to transfer their votes to the BJP.
“The government must give rights to the OBC commission and make it more powerful to enable it to safeguard rights of the backward community,” said Prof Prasahnt Trivedi of the Giri Institute of Development Studies.
“The Constitution has given several rights to the backward community. The OBC commission can play an important role in protecting those rights,” added Trivedi.
“Through the OBC commission, the BJP has tried to address its traditional supporters in the backward community. However, it will not be easy for the BJP to bring back the OBC community into its fold. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, BJP’s traditional OBC voter drifted to the INDIA bloc,” said Trivedi.
