Ahead of PM's Bhopal visit, Uma Bharti calls for OBC quota in women's Bill

On Monday, Uma Bharti stated on social media that she expects the Prime Minister to give a positive signal on OBC reservation for women

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega BJP workers' meet in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal on Monday, former chief minister and senior party leader Uma Bharti said the recently cleared Women's Reservation Bill should not be implemented without a sub-quota for the OBC community.

Bharti stated on social media that she expects the Prime Minister to give a "positive signal" in this regard.

"The Prime Minister is welcomed in the land of Bhopal. He is the messiah of the poor and backward; I am sure he will give a positive signal on OBC reservation for women," Bharti said on X (formerly Twitter).
 

Bharti expressed concern last week that the constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures did not include a quota for OBC women.

She also announced the mobilisation of OBC groups in the state to protest against the implementation of the women's quota bill.

Addressing a gathering at her residence, she said, "The successful passage of the long-awaited Women's Reservation Bill by Parliament is welcome. But all of us present here must vow that it will not be allowed to be implemented without the OBC quota."

"This is the right time for an awareness campaign among the vast OBC segment. Before the model code of conduct is enforced for Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, a big gathering of OBC groups will be organised in the state to press for implementing women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies only with OBC quota," she added.

The Women's Reservation Bill received 454 votes in favour and only two votes against it on Day 3 of the five-day special session of Parliament last week before receiving unanimous support in the Rajya Sabha.

In a letter to Prime Minister Modi last week, Bharti urged that 50 per cent of the 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies be reserved for marginalised communities, including Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC), and OBCs.

"I am not afraid of the outcome, but we will not allow the constitutional amendment to be implemented without the OBC quota," Bharti was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Bharti also pointed out in her letter that backward-caste women in Panchayati Raj and local bodies already have special reservations and that backward Muslim women, as recognised by the Mandal Commission, should also be considered for reservations in legislative bodies.

This is not the first time that Uma Bharti has gone against a key party decision. A day after expressing her disappointment at not being invited to her party's Jan Ashirwad Yatra in the state earlier this month, Bharti said that she would not be a part of the yatra even if she received an invitation.

Bharti kicked off a storm within the party after suggesting that BJP leaders would be "nervous" if she were present during the yatra, as all the attention would be on her.

A prominent leader in Madhya Pradesh politics, in 2003, she led the BJP to a landslide victory, ending the 10-year rule of the Congress party headed by Digvijaya Singh. However, she was expelled from the BJP in 2005 for indiscipline and reinstated only in 2011.