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Caste and Congress

Written by Inder Malhotra | Updated: February 7, 2014 11:32 pm

There is a touch of mystery in the brief but brisk storm at the higher echelons of the
Congress over the sensitive issue of caste-based reservations in government jobs and
educational institutions. So much so that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had to
issue a strongly worded statement to put an end to the controversy that had arisen
suddenly, and was avoidable.
The first surprising element in the whole episode was the uncharacteristic manner in
which a sober, staid, reticent and veteran Congressman, Janardhan Dwivedi, virtually
lit the fuse. He is not only a very senior general secretary but is known to be in the
inner circle of the Congress president. He may no longer be the chief of Congress
publicity, but whenever an important announcement has to be made, he is entrusted
with the task. At the famous AICC meeting at the Talkatora stadium on January 17, he
was the master of ceremonies.
Yet, he took it upon himself to plead for an end to the caste-based reservations and
their replacement by reservations for the economically weaker sections of all castes
and communities. He argued that the benefits of the present system go to the well-off
within the reserved categories the creamy layer, in the words of the Supreme
Court and the poor are left at the bottom of the social pyramid. He added, for
good measure, that his views were in conformity with the resolution passed by the
Congress Working Committee in August 1990 when V. P. Singh, then prime minister,
announced 27 per cent reservations for the OBCs called Other Backward Classes
in the Constitution but are, in fact, intermediate castes as recommended by the
Mandal Commission.
It is necessary to mention that the Mandal Commission was appointed by the Janata
government in the late 1970s. But by the time the commission submitted its report, the
Janata was history and Indira Gandhi was back in power. She quietly consigned it to
some pigeonhole. In Rajiv Gandhis time, some voices began to be raised that this
report should be implemented. He confided to
an aide: The Mandal Commissions report is a can of worms. I wont touch it. Later,
when Singh did take the plunge and there were widespread protests leading to
violence and firings by the police, Rajiv told the same aide: V.P. Singh is the most
divisive man in India after Mohammed Ali Jinnah. In Parliament, the Congress party
opposed the legislation on the subject.
That, of course, was a long time ago. A short while later, observing the rise of caste-
based parties in various states, the Congress also accepted OBC reservations.
The man who advocated this vigorously was Arjun Singh. Strangely, Dwivedi
remembered this recent history only partially. Or else, he wouldnt have spoken out
and addressed his message specifically to Rahulji, adding that he was responding to
the Congress vice presidents appeal to all Congressmen to give him their ideas for
inclusion in the manifesto for the looming general election. Dwivedi said his
contribution was that henceforth reservations should be confined to the poor of all
sections of society.
It is equally puzzling why a seasoned politician like Dwivedi could not foresee that
behind the scenes, if not publicly, all hell would break loose within the party he has
served for 35 years. Some Congress leaders immediately embarked on damage
control. They declared that Dwivedi had expressed his personal views that had
nothing to do with Congress policy. However, that was a sideshow.
The real drama took place hidden from the public view. Any number of Congress
leaders conveyed to the Congress president that just before the elections, when the
Congress was trying to attract the Jat vote in as many as 13 states and hoping to have
alliances with some caste-based parties, untold damage had been done by Dwivedis
statement. The Congresss opponents, including the BJPs prime ministerial
candidate, Narendra Modi, had already gone on the offensive. This probably
determined both the timing and tenor of Sonia Gandhis statement.
There should be, she said, no doubt on the stand of the Congress on the system of
reservations for the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes and the OBCs. Indeed, she
underscored that it was the Congress that introduced the reservations for SCs/ STs in
the 1950s and for the OBCs in 1990. (In view of what has been stated above, she was
right about the SCs/ STs but wrong about the OBCs.) That, however, is a minor
matter. What is important is her firm declaration that the present reservations must
continue because it was essential to deal with the discrimination imposed by
centuries of subjugation and oppression. Not content with this, the Congress
president also drove home what else her party has done, or proposes to do, that
virtually amounts to stealing the thunder of caste-based parties. According to her,
these measures range from the strengthening of a framework to implement the
benefits to the deprived effectively to a dialogue to ensure affirmative action for the
SCs/STs in the private sector.
Let me conclude by narrating the circumstances in which V.P. Singh was driven to
announce reservations for the OBCs without even consulting his allies from both ends
of the spectrum, the BJP and the Left Front. Returning from Moscow in the last week
of July, he found that his defiant deputy prime minister, Devi Lal, had revolted against
him. He therefore dismissed the Tau from Haryana. On August 1, Devi Lal
announced that he would stage a mammoth rally on August 9. Singh tried to take the
wind out of the Haryana leaders sails by releasing the genie out of the bottle. The
BJP was infuriated, and later, withdrew support to him. His government fell in 11
months flat.

The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator