The Gujarat high court cancelled on Thursday 10% reservation for the poor among upper castes, adding to mounting pressure on the BJP battling a leadership crisis and plummeting popularity among key vote banks a year ahead of assembly polls.
The decision is likely to spark renewed protests by the influential Patel community whose violent demonstrations seeking jobs and college seats shook the state government last year.
The court cancelled a state government ordinance that implemented the quota and called the move unconstitutional. It came two days after beleaguered chief minister Anandiben Patel resigned and a decision on her successor is expected Thursday.
The move to give 10% quota was taken in April by the BJP to placate the Patels after a drubbing in local body polls but experts had warned that decision violated Supreme Court guidelines.
“It was lollipop given to fool the community. The agitation for OBC quota will continue,” said quota protests leader Hardik Patel.
Thursday’s verdict is bad news for the BJP that is still reeling from statewide protests by Dalits following the brutal thrashing of four scheduled caste men by alleged cow-protection vigilantes.
The protests have threatened the BJP’s poll chances in Gujarat as well as other states such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The state government said it is looking into the HC verdict and will decide on a future course of action shortly. “The Gujarat government will move the Supreme Court very soon to challenge the HC verdict”, said government spokesperson Nitin Patel.
The quota benefited upper caste families with annual income under Rs six lakh but was in addition to 49.5% reservation already given to disadvantaged groups such as OBCs, SCs and STs.
Under Supreme Court guidelines, governments cannot provide reservation beyond 50% of their population. The high court dismissed the government’s argument that the 10% quota was not reservation but classification.
The reservation was aimed at placating the angry Patels – a traditional BJP votebank and a largely wealthy business community that has seen high inflation and unhelpful policy take the edge off their enterprise.
The Patels account for about a sixth of the state’s population, and when added to the Dalits – who account for about a tenth, can swing the assembly elections due early 2017.
Demonstrations by the community dented the BJP’s popularity in what is considered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
The BJP’s vote share in panchayat polls dropped from 50.26% in 2010 to 43.97% last year. Its hold over semi-urban and urban civic bodies also weakened during the period, helping to revive a politically moribund Congress party in the state.
