The OBC factor in local polls

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, and now Uttar Pradesh. State after state has faltered in the judicial test in their rush to extend reservations for other backward classes in local body polls, underlining the political urgency attached by governments cutting across the party and ideological spectrum to this issue. The court’s position on the issue is that it has no fundamental objection to the extension of reservation in local body polls but has laid down a clear three-step rule: A dedicated commission to conduct a rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness with respect to local bodies, specifying the proportion of reservation in light of the commission’s proposals, and not exceeding the 50% quota cap as laid down in the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment. Backward communities today wield tremendous political influence, are a key swing demographic in elections, and are the magic sauce in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rainbow Hindu coalition. With the political heft of backward groups only set to rise and demands for a caste census mounting, it will also be important to see whether local body quotas are setting the momentum for expanding political reservations beyond SC and STs on the national stage.