New Delhi:
The dates for the Uttar Pradesh election are likely to be announced today. In a move designed purely to appeal to the state's considerable Muslim population, the cabinet has cleared a 4.5% minority quota within the existing 27% OBC quota for government jobs and universities.
The BJP says the quota-within-a-quota is unconstitutional. "Backward classes need to be empowered. We are not in favour of this move," said BJP's Anant Kumar.
The Election Commission agrees that the cabinet's decision is aimed at scoring points ahead of the elections, but says it's helpless. "We don't have the power (to stop this)," said Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi to NDTV, "We come into the picture the day the poll schedule is announced. We take note of these announcements but we are handicapped." The BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "The BJP will strongly oppose such a move taken by the government which is based on caste system."
The clearance from the cabinet is timed to beat the model code of conduct, which kicks in as soon the election dates are announced, and restrains politicians from announcing SOPs designed to influence votes.
Voicing support for the Cabinet's decision, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) President Ram Vilas Paswan said, "The government has not followed a policy of appeasement. This is something that should have been done a long time ago. Even if the government has announced this very close to elections in 5 states, there is nothing wrong with it."
For UP, this is the biggest of them all. The Congress is aggressively trying to reclaim turf lost here in recent years to Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati. Key to its plans are a traditional votebank for many years, the Muslim voter. With an 18.5% share of the state's population, Muslmis are the largest minority in UP. Rahul Gandhi, who has charge of resurrecting the party in the crucial state, has travelled wide quoting the Sachar Committee report which says the Muslim community needs special attention. During a recent election tour of UP, Mr Gandhi said, "The Muslim community is the poorest and we are a party that takes everyone together on the path of development...We will bring a quota for them."
For the Samajwadi Party, this will be a blow. The Muslim vote forms a big part of Mulayam Singh Yadav's electoral agenda as he makes another desperate bid to win back the state. The party has been making all-out efforts to wrest back the Muslim vote and championing a separate quota has been part of that effort.
Then there is UP Chief Minister Mayawati, who hopes to grab that chair a fourth time, twice in succession. Mayawati plays the caste card with aplomb and along with her wooing of the Dalit and Brahmin vote, is doing her bit to try and grab the Muslim vote as well. Prominent by her side is Naseemuddin Siddiqui, a minister who, with more than 12 portfolios, is second only to her in the power that he wields.