To maximise its outreach and appeal among Maharashtra’s Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the Mahayuti government has made a recommendation to the Centre to raise the income limit for the “non-creamy layer” from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per annum. A “non-creamy layer” certificate, which states that the annual family income of a person is below the prescribed limit, is needed to avail of reservation benefits in the OBC category. The state government decided to make this recommendation at a meeting of the Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday. The proposal will have to be cleared by the Centre before it can be implemented. In a separate decision, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) on Wednesday recommended the inclusion of seven Maharashtra communities in the Central list of the OBCs. The NCBC’s decision came after the Mahayuti government urged it to expand the Central OBC list by including the following castes and sub-castes: 1) Lodh, Lodha, Lodhi; 2) Badgujar; 3) Suryavanshi Gujar; 4) Leve Gujar, Reve Gujar, Reva Gujar; 5) Dangari; 6) Bhoyar, Pawar; 7) Kapewar, Munnar Kapewar, Munnar Kapu, Telanga, Telangi, Pentarreddy, Bukekari. Barely two days after the BJP pulled off a historic hat-trick in the Haryana Assembly polls, riding on its OBC outreach among other issues, the Mahayuti coalition, comprising the BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, seems to be taking various measures to consolidate its OBC vote bank ahead of the Assembly polls slated for November. Could these moves have any electoral impact? As many as 351 OBC communities in Maharashtra account for 52% of the state population. Of these, there are 291 communities that fall under the Central OBC list. The demand for the inclusion of seven new castes and their sub-castes listed above has been long pending since 1996. Successive state governments had made this request to the NCBC in the past. But the issue had remained on the back burner. The NCBC’s bid to accept the state government's request comes weeks before the state Assembly polls. The development would send a message to the electorally crucial OBC groups across Vidarbha, North Maharashtra, Marathwada and parts of Western Maharashtra. The Bhoyar and Pawar communities have a presence in Wardha, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia, Yavatmal and Nagpur in the Vidarbha region, which has 62 Assembly seats and is set to see a fierce battle between the BJP and the Congress, which is a key constituent of the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) Opposition that also comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP). Badgujars, Leve Gujars, Reve Gujars and Reva Gujars have a presence in North Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, Nashik, Nandurbar and Ahmednagar districts. With 35 Assembly seats, North Maharashtra is a BJP bastion, though the unrest among onion farmers had hurt the party during the Lok Sabha elections. The Telangi, Pentareddy and Munnar Kapu communities are concentrated in the Marathwada region’s Nanded and Western Maharashtra’s Solapur. These communities can make or break the prospects of the Mahayuti or the MVA in an estimated 35-40 constituencies. Why is BJP focusing on OBCs? With Muslims, Marathas and Dalits appearing to drift away from the BJP, the party has taken a tactical decision to revert to its traditional OBC vote base. Since its inception in 1980, the BJP had got an image of being a Brahmin and Bania party. To shed this tag, the party had developed a Madhav – Mali, Dhangar and Vanjari (OBC) – formula, which helped the BJP gain a greater foothold in Maharashtra. Over the years, the BJP also managed to win the support of Marathas to an extent. However, the activist Manoj Jarange Patil-led Maratha agitation over reservation has now created unrest in the community against the BJP, which suffered a consequent loss of seats in the recent Lok Sabha polls. To bridge the vote deficit, the BJP is trying to use “Maratha versus OBC polarisation” to its advantage. The Maharashtra BJP is hoping to replicate the party's strategy in Haryana, where “anti-Jat consolidation” helped it gain greater acceptance among OBCs and Dalits. How do non-BJP OBC faces see it? OBC Jan Manch president Prakash Shendge dismissed the Mahayuti Cabinet's decision as “misleading”. Calling it a “political gimmick” to attract the OBC communities, Shengde said, “If they were really concerned about these communities, they would have taken the decision two years ago. Instead, their flip-flop on Maratha reservation has upset OBCs… The decision on creamy layer is Centre’s right. How can a state take credit? Moreover, caste criteria is determined on social, not economic, backwardness.” How has MVA reacted? The Congress said the move was merely “another election promise”. “The Opposition leaders believe all (Mahayuti government's) OBC-related decisions are in the proposal stage. It is unlikely to get implemented soon,” state Congress president Nana Patole said.
