Being poor is not the same as being socially backward
when he says they would rather wait and see if the bill passes judicial scrutiny.
For the Devendra Fadnavis government has taken a leaf out of the previous government’s book to accord these reservations to Marathas without due constitutional amendments and in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling that reservations should not exceed 50%. Tamil Nadu is the only state which has 69% reservation but it is a state where backward classes are pivotal to its politics. Moreover, when former chief minister Jayalalithaa introduced the 69% reservation in Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian parties were of crucial importance to coalition governments in the Centre and with much of Tamil Nadu politics being anti-upper caste, there was not much of a challenge to the defiance of constitutional norms in that state.
Why it may not be easy for the Maharashtra government to implement these reservations now is because OBCS and Dalits are fiercely up in arms against dipping into their quotas but also that according to a reservation outside the 50% cap (Maharashtra already gives 52%) will only incite demands from other communities like the Dhangars who too were promised reservations in their manifesto by the BJP during the 2014 elections. They have been waiting quietly in the wings to see how the government resolves the Maratha issue but if their decision is really implemented many other communities that have been demanding quotas could begin to raise their voices again — where is it all likely to end is the question being raised by many people now.
Nationally, too, the decision is likely to create a major headache for the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Demands by Patels, Gujjars and Jats in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana could get revived and none of it will be possible without either a constitutional amendment or a judicial endorsement. Which is why people like Gaikar now believe this is another election gimmick — the BJP both in the state and the Centre cannot afford to annoy their upper caste base by carving more out of the general pie for communities that are not really socially backward. They cannot dip into quotas for Dalits and OBCS either for obvious reasons.
Many are now accusing the Fadnavis government of political skullduggery — the Congress has done it before and got away with it, so might the BJP in case the courts throw out the government decision. The BJP can then blame it on the courts and say, “We tried, didn’t we?”