Bhubaneswar: Everybody in Odisha knows that caste politics has no place in the land of Lord Jaganntha, where the people all along vote for the party which is more neutral and secular. However, of late, ahead of the general elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assembly, the stage is set for a dog fight between major political parties over the reservation for the OBCs or Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs).
The state’s major political parties like BJD, Congress and BJP attempt to champion the cause of OBCs and Odisha Politics seems to be in the grip of ‘Caste Politics’. Though all know that caste politics will not succeed in Odisha, however nobody wants to take a chance and all the rivals to emerge as the savior of the OBCs, who constitute about 40 percent of Odisha’s population.
The issue of OBCs was first raised by BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan, who continued to attack the BJD Government on the issue. As Shri Pradhan was heard loud across the state, the Naveen Patnaik dispensation in a bid to become closer to the OBCs, set up a Commission for the welfare of the community. The Congress also blamed both the parties for not keeping reservation for OBCs in both the education and government jobs.
Meanwhile, several attempts to play the caste card in Odisha have utterly failed in the past and the leaders batting on the caste lines have been frustrated or sent to oblivion by the people. Be it Bhajaman Behera or Srikant Jena, all the prominent leaders wallowing in caste politics have been dumped.
Since the beginning of his regime in 2000, Naveen Patnaik for the first time announced that the regional party during the urban and rural polls said that the BJD would field 27 per cent of candidates from the SEBCs.
The BJD made such an announcement despite the fact that the regional political party have won five consecutive elections not on caste basis, but propelled by the welfare schemes like Re 1 kg rice, Women Self Help Groups and such others, that is on the ground of people’s economic and social wellbeing. Does BJD Supremo need to play a caste card for the future elections? His party already has over one crore members and a solid backing of women voters.
Similarly, the state’s principal opposition party- the BJP had secured 32 per cent of votes in assembly election and 38 percent vote in Lok Sabha elections in 2019 when the saffron party had not raised the OBC issue. As such, the BJP is growing in the state even without the issue of OBCs. The BJP got most of the votes due to inefficiency of the Congress leadership and to certain extent the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
By raising the OBC issue, the BJP policy makers think that they could add more votes to their kitty. At the same time, the ruling BJD, also apprehends that the saffron party may gain substantially by taking up the OBC issues. Therefore, BJD does not want to take any chances.
The caste has never been a factor in Odisha politics unlike in the Northern Indian states of Bihar and UP or Southern states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The people of Odisha do not vote en bloc on caste lines. Prominent OBC leaders like Ranendra Pratap Swain and Arun Sahu of the BJD and many others were elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly several times not because they belonged to a particular community, but for their association with the BJD, the regional outfit headed by Naveen Patnaik, belonging to general caste.
Similarly, other elected leaders in different parties in Odisha also must realize that they too got votes not because of their caste politics, but for their hard work as well as party affiliations.
Had caste been a factor in Odisha politics, Patnaiks (belonging to Karan caste having population of approximately 3 per cent) would not hold Chief Minister’s post of the state for 40 years. The Brahmin community, whose population is about 8 to 10 per cent in Odisha, has produced four Chief Ministers. Incidentally, two tribal (having over 22 per cent population) leaders have become CMs of Odisha for 16 months while none from OBC (around 54 per cent) has ever led the state as the Chief Minister.
A clear instance may also speak that caste is never a factor in Odisha politics. The state’s ruling and largest political party is headed by Naveen Patnaik while OPCC President is Sarat Pattnayak and CPI is headed by Asish Kanungo and CPM State Chief is Ali Kishore Patnaik. BJP, however, has an SEBC Manmohan Samal as its President. Most of the party heads in Odisha belong to the Karan caste.
A votary of caste politics Srikant Jena, a veteran politician from the Khandayat community — which comes under SEBC, while heading the Congress manifesto committee in 2018, created a ripple in political circle by sending a missive to OPCC President Niranjan Patnaik and other Congress members. Shri Jena proposed a preamble to the party’s manifesto for the 2019 general elections stating that if the party was voted to power, the Chief Minister and the two Deputy Chief Ministers should be selected from candidates belonging to the OBC or SEBC, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Shri Jena said this formula will give equal representation to all sections of the society since these communities constituted 90 percent of Odisha’s population. He was later shown the doors from the Congress party.
Odisha has reservation for STs (22.50 per cent), SCs (16.25 per cent) and SEBC (11.25 per cent). Both the BJD and the BJP are out to raise the quota for the SEBCs in the state beyond the 50 per cent limit. Both the political parties also trying to champion the cause of SEBCs, feel political pundits. Thus both the major parties are set on playing the caste card, which has been rejected time and again in the land of Lord Jagannatha.