The Bengal Legislative Assembly on Monday passed twin Bills, amending the erstwhile Trinamool Congress-era Act of 2012 concerning the reservations of classes under the OBC category in the state amid a walkout by a section of rebel TMC MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee.

The Bills – The West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and The West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (Amendment) Bill, 2026 – gave reservation to 66 classes under the OBC category while revising the quota structure from the earlier 17 per cent to 7 per cent in line with Calcutta High Court directives, besides reorganising the OBC categories.

The second Bill amends the 1993 law governing the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes.

A total of 186 MLAs voted in favour of the Bills, while 17 voted against them. Six members abstained from voting.

The division of votes was ordered by Speaker Rathindra Bose on a request by ISF MLA Nawsad Siddiqui, who, alongside rebel TMC MLA Biswanath Das, opposed the Bills on grounds of violation of social justice for the backward classes and urged their reference to a select committee.

Introducing the Bills, state Backward Classes Development minister Gourishankar Ghosh said the government was acting in accordance with the High Court directions and said there were no political motives behind the amendments.

"We have removed 113 classes included earlier without conducting any field survey, and retained 66 sub-classes, which were included following various surveys," Ghosh told the House.

"The Backward Classes commission will conduct inquiries and if it feels any community should be included, it can make recommendations for state government's considerations. The previous government had bypassed the Commission and that is why the High Court struck down the process," he said.

In a May 2024 judgment, the Calcutta High Court struck down the OBC status and certificates issued to 77 additional communities, primarily added between 2010 and 2012, declaring the inclusions illegal and unconstitutional.

The verdict cancelled roughly 12 lakh OBC certificates issued after 2010, while protecting the positions of individuals who had already secured employment through the quota. The court ruled that certificates issued before 2010 remain valid.

On May 19, the state government discontinued religion-based categorisation schemes and regularised 66 communities that were included in the state's OBC reservation list prior to 2010, restoring their eligibility for a seven per cent quota.

The notification, issued by the state Backward Classes Welfare Department, said these communities, clubbed under a single category and three of whom are Muslim, will now be eligible for a seven per cent reservation in government services and posts.

The current regularisation replaced the previous system which allotted 10 per cent reservation under Category A, identified as 'more backward', and seven per cent under Category B, termed 'backward'.

Monday's amendments – while empowering the state government, in consultation with the Commission, to determine the reservation percentage for different OBC categories – provided legal sanction to the state cabinet's move.

The percentage of reserved posts may be revised periodically in proportion to the reservation quota, but the overall reservation will not exceed 50 per cent, the amended Bill stated.

After consulting the Commission, the state government will be empowered to classify OBC citizens into different categories based on the extent of their social and educational backwardness. Reservation in posts will then be provided separately for each category, it added.

The Bill to amend the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, states that citizens will be able to apply for inclusion in the OBC list. The commission will examine such applications and make recommendations to the state government.

Complaints regarding over-inclusion or under-inclusion of any section in the OBC list may also be submitted. In such cases, the government will act in accordance with the commission's recommendations. The tenure of the commission members will be three years, but the government will decide on the term of the Member-Secretary, who would be a serving government official.

Several TMC members owing allegiance to the Ritabrata Banerjee-led group staged a walkout from the House before the voting. The group owing allegiance to Mamata Banerjee, however, stayed in the House and participated in the voting on the amendment.

Another bill to curb anti-social activities with a stringent provision of preventive detention for up to 12 months without trial was tabled in the Bengal assembly.

The West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-social Activities Bill, 2026, is aimed at preventing riots and other forms of violence, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said in the House.

Explaining the rationale behind introducing the bill, Adhikari said the existing laws do not have the provision to recover the cost for property destruction from those involved in violence, directly or otherwise.

The bill is targeted at goondas and won't be misused in any manner, including for political purposes, the CM assured the House.