When well-off castes vie for reservation pie

Some basics about the agitation in Gujarat need to be understood. Patel is not a caste; like Patil, it is an honorific for the village elder or headman. Patels are not socially or economically backward; they have never considered themselves so, being economically and politically powerful. Only the Patidars, the landless or marginal farmers. are badly off, but are not in other backward castes (OBC) category. The grievance that has triggered the reservation agitation has to do with education, like admission to medical and technical courses.

Not given to scoring high in examinations, the Patels find it difficult to enter this elite workforce. Hardik Patel, catapulted to prominence with this stir, is himself a ‘victim’ of this. His speaking in Hindi to a Gujarati audience (like Narendra Modi had done when he last won the assembly polls) indicates political ambitions. He has been an activist of the Aam Aadmi Party, but stoutly denies having any Kejriwal connections. He seems to be looking for wider political support without losing control of the stir.

There are clear indications of a well-planned campaign from the way the massive rally in Ahmedabad stadium was organised and addressed. The BJP’s junior home minister at the Centre, Kiren Rijju, may have a point in “smelling a rat” Since it took power at the Centre, this is the biggest challenge on the ground for the BJP and that too, in Modi’s home state. Caste politics and reservation are emotional issues and Gujarat has long been the cauldron of mass movements triggered by these and other issues that have tended to be anti-establishment.

The ‘Janata Parivar’ that wants to retain power in polls-bound Bihar is already taking the cue from it. Gujarat’s Navnirman Movement was the forerunner of Jayaprakash Narayan-led “JP movement.” How the Gujarat Congress tackles this opportunity that it has received on a platter after long years of political wilderness would be worth watching. Its national leadership could not be oblivious of the advantages it could derive by stoking the fire in the PM’s backyard.

Taking the larger picture, this movement turns on its head the basic idea behind reservations, which is to benefit the poorest and the most backward. The Patels are agitating just like the Jats, the Yadavs and the Gurjars in the North, or the Kapus in the two Telugu-speaking states. These are economically well off and socially, upwardly mobile communities who cannot claim reservation in jobs and education.

The Supreme Court recently did well to reject the Jats’ demand on this score. The obvious idea behind making the demand and launching stirs is to consolidate what they have and ensure a status quo. In a society where aspirations are growing, the battle for distribution of power, privileges and the race for acquiring goodies that economic changes are yielding, promise to generate more such turmoil. The political class would do well not to stoke them for narrow gains.

By Mahendra Ved