Amid growing opposition from States in the south to the Supreme Court verdict upholding 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS), the Congress has commenced a “political review” of its position on the issue. There is also a pushback from others in the Opposition camp, with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) already in talks with other parties for a joint agitation demanding a caste census.
Though the Congress had earlier welcomed the top court’s verdict, the strong opposition and nuanced response of key allies, the DMK and RJD, has prompted it to take another look. A Congress source said party president Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken to former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to examine the “social and political” impact of the top court’s judgment, while senior advocate and Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Singhvi has been tasked with studying the finer legal points. Once the internal review is over, the party will take a call on whether it will undertake a legal review as well, the source said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told reporters on Saturday that though all five judges have upheld reservations for the EWS category, several issues have been raised by each of them on the exclusion of SCs, STs and OBCs from it. The Congress is now studying them in detail, he said, calling it “not a rethink but a deep think”.
Another senior leader familiar with the developments said the party has been prompted to nuance its position keeping in mind the ground realities in States like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. “In these States, there is a real concern that very few castes would corner the 10% EWS quota, and south India is very important for us,” the leader said.
Nuanced views
That there were divergent views on the subject was clear from a Tuesday tweet by Mr. Chidambaram: “The powerful dissent of the two Honourable judges underlined the truth that the basic structure of the Indian Constitution did not permit exclusion [of SC, STS and OBCs]. There are poor among all castes and communities. The moot question is ‘will the poor be treated equally under the Constitution?’”
The Left parties had also said after the EWS verdict that it raised certain major questions that need to addressed. The CPI(M) said it has always questioned the criteria to define the category. The Opposition is now basing their arguments on the minority view in the Supreme Court order.
“How can the government decide 10% quota for the upper castes without assessing their percentage in the population? Only caste census would reveal this,” a senior Opposition leader said.
The RJD and JD(U) have offered support to the DMK’s efforts to mobilise opinion against the court verdict. “We will hold discussions with all Opposition parties on the issue of a national caste census,” said RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari.
(With inputs from A.M. Jigeesh)
