The Narendra Modi government is assiduously reaching out to the OBCs, including planning to give consent for a caste census, as part of its strategy to decisively win the Uttar Pradesh polls next year, sources said.
OBCs account for over 50 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population. The BJP is trying to secure a chunk of their votes, especially that of the non-Yadav OBCs.
The outcome of the election in the country’s largest state is widely believed to be crucial in setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and the BJP seems to be going all out to prove that it stays unbeaten.
There is pressure on the BJP to win Uttar Pradesh in a big way after the massive defeat in the Bengal Assembly polls.
“The central government is considering more than one move to reaffirm its commitment towards the backward classes,” a Union minister said. “We are not averse to going for a caste census,” the minister added.
Yogi Adityanath. File photo
The sources said the Centre was considering accepting the demand for a caste census, announcing sub-categorisation of OBCs and clearing the backlog in vacancies under the OBC quota.
The BJP and the Modi government are in principle opposed to a caste census on the ground that it would defeat the goal of building a “casteless society”, but electoral compulsions could see the party agree to it.
“Increasing support from the OBCs has played a big role in the BJP’s major poll victories in the Hindi heartland and so the government will do everything to keep the support base intact,” a BJP leader said.
Led by Modi, the BJP recently went all out to shower praise on former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, an OBC leader who passed away recently.
Top party leaders gathered at Kalyan’s funeral and the state government announced that main roads in six districts would be named after the former chief minister.
Apart from courting the OBCs, the BJP has also been addressing other issues to counter anti-incumbency.
The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved an increased fair and remunerative price (FRP) of Rs 290 per quintal for sugarcane, a decision that was expected to mollify angry cane farmers in western Uttar Pradesh.
Western Uttar Pradesh, a major sugar belt, has been the epicentre of protests against the three contentious farm laws. Apart from the farm laws, dues of sugarcane farmers and unremunerative prices have been the major complaints against the ruling BJP at the Centre and the state.
The Centre’s decision will now push the Yogi Adityanath government to increase its state-advised price (SAP) for sugarcane, stuck at Rs 315 per quintal for three years. In addition to the FRP or minimum support price the sugarcane mills have to pay to the farmers, states announce their own SAP and it’s usually higher than the price fixed by the Centre.
Congress-ruled Punjab recently announced a cane SAP of Rs 360 per quintal, up by Rs 50.
