Centre faces sub-quota hurdle in Women Reservation

The BJP-led NDA government at the centre’s decision to provide reservation to the women appears to have run into the sub-quota hurdle after not only the opposition parties but some senior BJP leaders demanded separate reservation for the SC/ST and OBC communities.

Senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti shot off a letter to prime minister Narendra Modi demanding 50 per cent quota for the SC/ST, OBC and backward class women from the Muslim community.

In the letter to Modi, she said, “The 33 per cent reservation for women in legislature is a special provision. It should be ensured that out of this 33 per cent, 50 per cent is reserved for women belonging to SC/ST and OBC communities.”

“I got very disappointed on seeing that there is no OBC reservation in the bill,' she said, adding 'I got disappointed as the chance which the backward class women were supposed to get has not been given to them,’’ she said in the letter.

A few other BJP leaders, who hailed from the OBC communities and SC/ST also made a similar demand raising apprehensions that the party might not be able to derive the electoral mileage it expected ahead of the forthcoming assembly polls in five states as well as the next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati have also demanded a separate quota for the SC/ST, OBC communities within the women’s reservation bill. Akhilesh in fact also demanded separate quota for the minorities.

Congress has also made a similar demand. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made the demand in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Bill on Tuesday.

Although the Bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha and is also expected to be passed, it appears that it will be difficult for the government to ignore the demand for the sub-quota.