A day after Parliament cleared the landmark legislation by the Modi government reserving 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed “regret” that the UPA government of the time had failed to include OBC sub-quota in its women’s reservation Bill. The legislation, passed by the Rajya Sabha, had consequently failed to clear the Lok Sabha. On Friday, Rahul was asked at a press conference whether he regretted the fact that reservation for women could have become a reality in 2010 had the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government brought in sub-quota for OBCs, as demanded by several parties at the time. He said: “100 per cent regret. We should have done it back then and we will get it done now.” Asked what had changed from 2010 to 2023, Rahul said: “We have not shifted our stand. We are the party that did the caste census. We carried out an entire census getting caste data. We didn’t release that at the time, there was a discussion, internal discussion. We should have released that at the time and it should be released now, there is no change in our view on this.” The UPA government and the Congress leadership were of the view at the time that incorporating an OBC sub-quota in reservation for women was impossible since there was no OBC reservation in Parliament, which meant there was no constitutional ground for creating such a quota. Law Minister M Veerappa Moily had said this in as many words before the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010. “As you all know, as of today, we have reservations only for the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. We do not have the data for the entire nation because, after 1931, no national (caste) Census has been done. A backward class in one state may not be a backward class in another state,” Moily had said. In the Lok Sabha, the Bill had faced strong protest from parties like the Samajwadi Party, RJD and the Trinamool Congress, which demanded a quota within the quota for OBCs and minorities. Rahul's remarks on Friday were described by party leaders as “off the cuff”. At the same time, they are being seen as part of the Congress's attempt to embrace social justice politics now, and correct the party's lasting mistake of ignoring the sizeable and influential OBC vote bank. The Congress’s OBC vote base in the Hindi heartland has been eroding, the slide picking up pace after the Mandal Commission gave rise to a host of backward leaders. The BJP’s Hindutva push and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mass appeal as an OBC leader have been the final blows. In February, at the AICC Raipur session, the Congress resolved to reserve 50% of positions in all committees – from the block level to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) – for SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities. It also talked about ensuring equal access to jobs in the private organised sector for SCs, STs and OBCs, promised a dedicated ministry for the empowerment of OBCs, and went on to state that the party “shall consider reservations for SCs-STs-OBCs in the higher judiciary” if voted to power. During the Karnataka Assembly election campaign in April, Rahul demanded removal of the 50% overall ceiling on reservation – which was endorsed by the CWC last week. The Congress has also been demanding a caste-wise headcount, repeated by Rahul on Friday, which is likely to strike a chord with OBC voters. On the women’s reservation Bill passed by Parliament, Rahul reiterated that the Modi government's intention was “political” as the legislation would not come into implementation in the next 10 years as it has been linked to Census and the delimitation exercise. The Bill is meant to divert attention away from growing calls for a caste census, he said.
