Mamata Banerjee era’s OBC quota law amended, but passage of Bills exposes chinks in rebel TMC group

Introducing the Bills, Minister for Backward Classes Welfare Gaurishankar Ghosh said the BJP 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 the state government’s consideration. The previous TMC government had bypassed the Commission, and that is why the High Court struck down the process,” he said.

Speaking in support of the Bills, the BJP MLA from Dum Dum, Arijit Bakshi, hit out at the previous TMC government, accusing it of creating the OBC list to “solely appease the minority community and secure its vote bank, thereby depriving the genuinely backward sections”.

While the passage of the Bills showed a rare realignment of both the TMC factions – loyalists of former CM Mamata Banerjee and rebels led by Ritabrata Banerjee – it also exposed chinks in the rebel group.

Soon after the two Bills were introduced, ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui objected to the voice vote and demanded the division of votes.

Opposing the Bills, TMC MLAs Javed Khan and Sabina Yasmin, also demanded division of votes. Agreeing to their demands, Speaker Rathindra Basu allowed the division of votes.

However, soon after, the rebel TMC MLAs walked out of the House, even as a few of them stayed inside. Kajal Sheikh, Baharul Islam, Byron Biswas, Pannalal Halder, and Tausifur Rahman – all from the rebel TMC faction – remained seated in the House, disregarding the group’s decision. On the other hand, Mamata loyalists like Sobhandeb Chatterjee, Biman Banerjee, Kunal Ghosh, Alifa Ahmed, and Pulak Roy stayed and voted against the Bills.

A total of 186 votes were cast in favour of the two Bills, and 17 votes were cast against them — including one from the rebel TMC faction.

2012 to 2024 and now 2026: How OBC quota changed

In May 2024, 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.

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’.

On May 19, the newly elected BJP 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.