The BJP has chalked out a broader plan to reach the doorstep of 17 per cent of Hindu OBC voters in Bengal, aiming to exploit Tuesday’s Calcutta High Court order that put an interim stay on the Mamata Banerjee government’s June 8 notification classifying 140 sub-castes as Other Backward Classes (OBCs), ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.
“We attended a virtual meeting with the national leaders (of the BJP) this morning. In our five organisational zones (in Bengal), we have to reach the doorstep of all Hindu OBC sub-castes with the message you (BJP workers) have been spreading in Calcutta or on social media,” Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, told BJP workers at a protest rally organised by the OBC Morcha here.
A source said the BJP had taken up the OBC issue as a major political tool ahead of the Assembly elections, as it could help the party intensify its efforts to consolidate Hindu voters by highlighting how Mamata Banerjee’s alleged attempt to benefit Muslims by classifying them as OBCs and cutting the quota of OBC Hindus, had been challenged and stalled by the Calcutta High Court’s order.
“There is no OBC-A or OBC-B classification in other states. Mamata Banerjee illegally attempted to classify ineligible Muslim sub-castes as OBCs for the sake of her appeasement politics. You must remember, this is only an interim stay — not the court’s conclusion. We will fight the battle in the high court and the Supreme Court, but you (party workers) must take this fight to the streets with full strength,” said Adhikari.
BJP MLAs, led by Adhikari, distributed laddus in front of the Bengal Assembly on Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the verdict.
The OBC issue became a political flashpoint after Amal Chandra Das filed a petition in the high court in 2023, accusing the Trinamool government of issuing a large number of fake OBC certificates since coming to power in 2011. The case was later transferred to a division bench, which in May last year cancelled all OBC certificates issued after 2010. However, the high court allowed OBC reservation benefits for 66 sub-castes started before 2010 to continue.
The Bengal government challenged the high court’s order in the Supreme Court, which refused to grant a stay. The matter is pending there. The government issued a fresh notification on June 8, bringing 76 sub-castes under the OBC category, bringing the total number to 140. This, too, was challenged by an NGO on June 12.
Mamata Banerjee defended the OBC classification, claiming it followed the court’s guidelines.
“This is not a final order. They have given some suggestions and an order. We received the order last night, and the legal team is studying it. The work was done not by the government, but by the OBC Commission, headed by a retired Calcutta High Court Justice. We followed all high court rules, but new questions may arise every day. The CPM and the BJP do not want OBC reservations, as they are meant for the poor,” the chief minister told a press conference at Nabanna on Wednesday.