BJP'S BIG OBC PUSH

The OBC vote has been a significant part of the BJP's success since 2014. Will the demand for caste census in states and its inherent dangers upset the party's plans?

- Anilesh S. Mahajan

On April 3, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi landed in Surat, Gujarat, to seek suspension of his two-year jail sentence by the local sessions court in a defamation case over his "thieves sharing the Modi surname" comment in Kolar Karntaka during the 2019 election campaign. The same day, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra called a press meet in Kolkata to stress that Gandhi's jibe wasn't just an insult to people with the Modi surname but the whole OBC (other backward classes) community. Indeed, taking advantage of the brouhaha, the party also launched a 'Gaon gaon chalo, ghar ghar chalo (Visit every village, and every home) campaign on April 6 (the BJP foundation day) to press home the 'message'. The party's ambition, as always, is huge-reaching out to the 10 million OBC households in 100,000 villages across the country by the time the campaign culminates on April 14 (again a symbolic date, Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar's birthday).

The OBC community, which by some estimates could make up over 40 per cent of the population, has been a crucial vote bank for the BJP's success since the 2014 general election. An avenue for this-gaining access and support from various communities in this OBC block-was again Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been open about belonging to this caste. To boost the confidence, Modi's cabicommunity's net now has 27 ministers who are OBCs (of the total 78); many of the state unit chiefs are also from these caste cohorts.