Three 'R's & BJP's counterploy! Ram, Rohini or Reservation?

Months ahead of the 2024 general elections, BJP may need some skilled political manoeuvring and expertise to not let its Hindutva vote bank agenda be hit by the latest Opposition attempt to revive Mandal politics, which has now taken centre-stage with the release of caste data by the Bihar government. The latest data of Bihar pegs the state's backward caste population at 63%.

Caste politics has always been a potent counter to BJP's Hindutva politics even though under the Modi-Shah duo, the party has been able to shed its image of a Brahmin-Baniya party and has always sported its OBC credentials.

With the new caste count likely to raise a clamour for a review of reservation for backwards and with all the Opposition parties of INDIA bloc demanding a caste census, BJP may have to take a detour from its tried and tested 'labharthi' politics which it had used to consolidate the Hindutva vote bank by not letting it divide on caste lines.


The Opposition has also raised the OBC reservation issue within women's reservation when the bill was passed during the special session. BJP was quick to counter with senior leader Amit Shah stating that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party's 29% MPs, 29 Union ministers, and 365 out of a total of 1,358 MLAs, are from the OBC category.

With Modi directly attacking the Opposition by saying that it is trying to divide Hindus on caste lines, it looks like that BJP is going to take this issue head-on. And the two options which seem to be available before BJP are: Implementing the Rohini Commission, which was formed to suggest internal quota within OBC reservation, and further heightening Hindu consciousness by inaugurating the Ram temple to blur caste lines further.

While the Rohini Commission report is yet to be made public, the mega inauguration of Ram temple is scheduled for January next year.

In the 2019 elections, BJP overcame all caste challenges on the basis of its Hindutva politics and labharthi, combined with the overwhelming nationalist sentiment on the back of the Balakot airstrike.

It would be interesting to see what BJP does in the coming days to counter this new caste challenge from the Opposition - whether it will combine Ram with Rohini or explore the option of revising the reservation percentage.