Providing the contours of the BJP’s campaign for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir beginning next month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has asked the Congress leadership a set of 10 questions. Among the questions, which Shah raised after a meeting of the party’s core committee on J&K on Friday, the most telling one is perhaps on the issue of reservation, something that the National Conference (NC) manifesto said it would review to correct any “injustice and imbalance”. “The Modi govt ended years of discrimination against Dalits, tribes, Pahadis, and backward communities by granting them reservations after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A. Does Rahul Gandhi support the JKNC manifesto, which calls for abolishing reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakerwals, and Pahadis? After allying with the National Conference, he should now clarify the Congress Party’s stand on reservation policy,” Shah said. In context: The Home Minister’s attempt to launch a strong attack on the Congress on the issue of reservation is insightful as it comes in the backdrop of a sense of disquiet in the BJP about questions of social justice. Having been driven to the back foot over the demand for a nationwide caste census in the months before the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP lost momentum as the Opposition conducted a campaign during the parliamentary polls centred around the future of the Constitution and quotas. The result was the Opposition ended up making massive gains among the backward classes, Dalits, and Adivasis, taking away a sizable chunk of the BJP’s votes among the marginalised communities. Since the elections, the signs of unease have only increased. Be it the simmering divide between Marathas and OBCs in Maharashtra or the recent about-turn on lateral entry into the bureaucracy, the BJP does not seem to be looking its usual assured self. It hasn’t especially since social justice returned to the front and centre of the national political agenda starting with the Bihar caste survey results last year. The Lok Sabha results showed the limits of the BJP’s strategy of expanding its base by consolidating the upper castes, which have been its core supporters, with certain OBC, SC, and ST groups under the rubric of Hindutva. As the crucial Assembly polls approach, the BJP will be hoping that the Lok Sabha results were just an outlier and that it is not yet time to press the panic button. However, setbacks in the coming elections may change all that. How the party deals with this in the coming days and weeks and formulates a response to the Opposition will be one of the most significant political stories going forward. Recommended reading: Lateral entry in UPSC will further distance marginalised from centres of power Quota in quota may set off political churn, from poll maths to alliances to women Bill Rahul Gandhi in Prayagraj The challenge for the Congress and its INDIA alliance partners will be to keep social justice at the forefront of their political agenda and take advantage of an unsettled BJP. How they manage to move beyond their “Save the Constitution” or “PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankyak)” campaign talking points and take the next step are the big questions. On Saturday afternoon, Lok Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, to address the Samvidhan Samman Sammelan at the AMA Convention Centre. Also happening today Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet a delegation of the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) for Central government employees, a body that is pushing for the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), in New Delhi. Amit Shah will begin a three-day visit to Chhattisgarh. The Home Minister is scheduled to chair a series of meetings on anti-Maoist operations.
