New Delhi: The opposition parties are yet to firm up an alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, their unanimous demands for a caste census and the removal of reservation cap could be a binding factor for the opposition parties. Some of the opposition leaders feel that the demand for caste census can be ‘Brahmastra’ to counter the BJP and its Hindutva plank.
The issues of caste census and reservation put all the opposition parties on the same page. Leaders feel it could also help them win back many backward classes who have veered towards the BJP in the recent past.
At a DMK-convened conference, RJD leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav summed it up for opposition parties recently. He had said that the best way to beat the BJP’s politics of ‘polarisation’ was through social justice-based politics.
This formula has been adopted by the Congress with much enthusiasm with Rahul Gandhi making an aggressive pitch for a caste-based census and the removal of 50 per cent cap on reservation in his recent speech in Karnataka’s Kolar, in a bid to turn the tables on the BJP that had been gunning for him over his 2019 ‘Modi surname’ remarks alleging that he insulted OBCs.
The BJP has hit back at Rahul for his remarks, alleging that he is being ‘disingenuous’ with his claim on the issue of social justice when the erstwhile Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka did nothing to address long-pending demands of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The opposition parties have spoken with unanimity on general issues such as inflation and rising employment. However, they lacked cohesiveness on specific issues like the (Gautam) Adani matter.
However, with the issues of caste-based census and removal of reservation cap, opposition parties have found an arrow with which they can hit multiple targets at one go. It forges instant unity in the opposition ranks, puts the BJP on the back foot as it is yet to spell out its stance on them categorically, and prepares a counter for the Hindutva push expected closer to the polls.
With the Congress aggressively taking up the issue, it is likely to endear the party to regional outfits which have till now been circumspect of the grand old party. Asked about the Congress’ strong pitch over the issue, general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The demand for a caste-based census was articulated forcefully by many civil society groups to Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Congress is following through on that demand.”
A socio-economic caste census was conducted by the end of 2012 covering some 25 crore households. However, the data could not be published for various reasons, Ramesh informed.
An example of how the issue of caste-based census could be the glue for the Opposition unity is how even the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which does not see eye-to-eye with the Congress on most issues has joined the caste-based census chorus.
The JD(U) and the RJD, which are part of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ alliance in Bihar, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have also been vociferously demanding caste-based census for a long time.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said the ‘doublespeak’ of the BJP is clear from its ‘ambivalent position’ on the Opposition demand for publishing the figures of the caste-based census of 2011. “It (BJP) seeks the votes of the forward classes while it engages in doublespeak on backward classes,” Sibal alleged. Sibal however, added that just being on the same page on this issue was not enough and that the Opposition unity requires much more than this.