The Supreme Court’s ruling in late August that Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) do not constitute a homogenous group and may be considered for sub-categorisation by the States for the purpose of reservation is likely to play a role in the coming Bihar Assembly polls.
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The ruling, by a five-judge Bench led by now retired judge Arun Mishra, is being seen by the Janata Dal (U) as an endorsement of the Nitish Kumar government’s policies of Mahadalit sub-categorisation. The order has created grounds for revisiting earlier judgements on treating SCs as a homogenous category, and the sanctity of the Presidential List.
Bihar Minister Sanjay Jha said the apex court ruling endorsed Mr. Kumar’s more than a decade-long policy of sub-categorisation of Mahadalits among Dalits.
“This ruling recognises what Nitish Kumar has been saying all this while on sub- categorisation and uneven access to resources within the reserved categories. The Mahadalit community associates itself with Nitish Kumar ji as he was the first to highlight their plight vis a vis reservations,” he stated.
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Mr. Jha pointed out that apart from sub-categorisation, Mr. Kumar was also instrumental in making a Mahadalit the Chief Minister – a reference to Jiten Ram Manjhi of the Hindustan Awam Morch (HAM), which recently rejoined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
LJP’s stand
The sub-categorisation ruling comes at an interesting point in seat adjustment talks within the NDA, with the Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP), which claims the support of Dalit communities in the State, champing at the bit within the alliance in the run-up to polls.
LJP parliamentary board leader Chirag Paswan has written a letter to Mr. Kumar, protesting what he termed the undermining of the Dalit community under the latter’s government. This evoked a sharp reaction from JD(U) general secretary K.C. Tyagi. He said Mr. Kumar’s government did not require a certificate on Dalit welfare from “anyone”.
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Political opposition
The ruling reenforces the “creamy layer” theory in reservation and has been opposed by many political parties as discriminatory and unrealistic.
While Mr. Jha did not comment on the LJP’s recent statements questioning aspects of Mr. Kumar’s leadership, others in the JD(U) said the latter’s support base among Mahadalits was a sore point.
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The JD(U) will be playing up the sub-categorisation ruling during the polls and consider it one of the triumphs of the social policy followed by Mr. Kumar’s government.
“The Tola Sewak scheme and the special provisions for Mahadalits are important contributions of this government to social justice,” said Mr. Jha.
JD(U) sources, however, insist that whatever hurt feelings the LJP may have with regard to the NDA, it would be up to the BJP to sort the matter out.
