Analysis: Supreme Court ruling on SC/ST quota in promotions provides opening for BJP

The ruling of a vacation bench of the Supreme Court to allow continuation of existing laws on quotas in promotions in government jobs till a Constitution Bench decides on the issue has given BJP an opening to further its agenda of wooing Dalit voters ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The government was on the back-foot earlier when its attorneys failed to convince the apex court on alleged misuse of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The Opposition accused BJP of trying to do away with the Act or diluting its provisions, forcing the ruling party to clarify that reservations and other safeguards for the Dalits were here to stay.

Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan announced that the government would issue an ordinance in case the Supreme Court sticks to its position. BJP had feared a backlash in the Karnataka assembly elections and its fears were not unfounded. The party has not done well in the Bombay Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka regions were the Dalit population is high, though other factors also contributed to this outcome.


Dalits MPs from BJP were apprehensive of facing the wrath of their communities due to the SC/ST (Prevention o f At r o -cities) Act issue and some of them spoke openly about it. While the party is in the process of formulating its position on the Supreme Court order on reservation in promotion, party sources said this issue could be used to impress Dalit voters.

The party has made overtures to Dalits with its leaders dining in homes of members of these communities but the exercise does not seem to have made much impact. The Opposition has taken digs at the BJP leaders for making a show of the whole exercise.

Such attempts to win over Dalits have been nullified by reports of increasing atrocities on Dalits. The Una incident and other attacks on Dalits in the name of cow protection antagonized the community against the BJP, more so as these incidents happened in states where the party was in power.

BJP ally JDU was quick to ask the saffron party to act on the Supreme Court order. “We demand that the government should pass an ordinance and make this reservation in promotion a reality without any delay,” JDU leader KC Tyagi said. to this outcome.