Is the status quo on UP caste equations here to stay?

Even as the BJP swept the polls last time around, defection of its OBC cabinet ministers to the SP signals a shift back to the norm in UP politics

Switching allegiances by opportunistic leaders in the run-up to assembly polls is a common feature in all states, but the moves in UP take on a different spin, in the backdrop of the caste-rooted politics in the state. This time around, state cabinet ministers Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan and Dharam Singh quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to join the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP).

The BJP had won the previous elections by securing 312 seats, a record in the state's history, which holds all the more significance this time around as the switch by its cabinet ministers suggests that a social churn is in the offing. Maurya and the others who quit the BJP are non-Yadavs, primarily leaders of Other Backward Classes (OBC).

The caste equations in the UP politics can be traced back to the 1980s, especially after 1985, when the Congress was given the heave-ho in the state despite coming to power consecutively since Independence.

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The primary reason for this can be traced to the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report — that recommended reservation for the backward and scheduled classes — by VP Singh in 1990. The Mandal Commission recommended 27 per cent of all central government jobs for the OBCs, in addition to the existing 22.5 per cent job quota for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs).

This came in the backdrop of the Yadavs, a backward peasant class, asserting themselves in the political scene, lining up to vote for candidates of their own caste and seeking political as well as administrative power.

The implementation of the Mandal Commission Report propelled Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was a champion of the report — amid the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi governments putting it on the backburner — to the political forefront in the state. Even as the Congress came to power in the Centre thrice since the 1990s, it has not returned to power in UP since.

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The OBC quota issue posed problems to the BJP's political aspirations in the state as well, as supporting the move may have alienated its core upper caste voters. Instead, it decided to focus on the issue of Ram Mandir.

In Uttar Pradesh, hung assemblies became the norm until 2007, when a Mayawati-led BSP secured a clear majority. This was followed by the SP rule, with parties trying to garner the support of Muslims and OBCs. However, the 2014 win by BJP, followed by the sweeping repeat in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh, put the caste equation questions on hold.

But with elections once again etching closer, the churn seems to have started, emerging from its five-year cocoon. The defection of BJP's OBC leaders is merely an indicator.

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