UP next: Trifurcation of state, reservation for Muslims.
With an eye on the 2012 Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has lined up an array of poll sops for her state. The first was unveiled today: a hefty Rs 40 a quintal rise in the support price for sugarcane. While this is set to yield a rich political dividend as there are nearly four million sugarcane farmers in the state, she has two other aces up her sleeve: trifurcation of the state and reservation for Muslims in educational institutions and government services. According to sources, the UP chief minister is poised to introduce these two crucial resolutions in the state Assembly in the session beginning November 21.
With the Assembly session expected to be the last before the poll dates are announced (the Election Commission could announce these in December), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo intends to outdo her rivals and introduce these proposals pronto.
| STATES & THE MUSLIM QUOTA |
| THE IMPLICATION |
| * State stipulates reservation in educational institutions & govt jobs |
| RESERVATION FOR MUSLIMS EXISTS IN |
| * Kerala: 12% of govt jobs are currently reserved for Muslims in the southern state with a high literacy rate |
| * Tamil Nadu: 3.5% of jobs are reserved for Muslims and Christians. The state, thus, has OBC reservation of 30% |
| * Karnataka: 4% reservation for Muslims |
| * West Bengal: 10% reservation for Muslims in govt jobs |
| * Andhra Pradesh: The administration introduced a law enabling 4% reservation for Muslims; it was struck down by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The Supreme Court has allowed it |
| MUSLIMS IN UTTAR PRADESH |
| * 18% of the total population |
That would help the party pander to regional sentiments by paving the way for the creation of Purvanchal, Harit Pradesh and Bundelkhand and also garner the state’s much-sought Muslim vote. If she succeeds in doing the latter, she will have managed to outdo the Congress, which has spoken of working towards reservation for backward Muslims. BSP leaders are unwilling to reveal much but sources in the party say, “We are aware the anti-incumbency factor is against us, so behenji is looking to ensure we garner the highest number of votes by eating into the traditional vote banks of others.”
The fact that Mayawati is acutely aware of the vote bank she is reaching out to was evident when she said today, “As compared to previous regimes, the government has hiked the State Advisory Price (SAP) by 65 per cent in the last four years.” She went on to remind farmers it was in the wake of the Centre’s “insensitive approach” that the state had decided to fix a higher SAP.
Sugarcane farmers of western UP have been seen as the vote bank of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Mayawati hopes to wean some of them away.
With Muslims comprising 18 per cent of the state’s population, Mayawati’s attempts to woo them are understandable. She has in the past few months written several letters to the Prime Minister, demanding a quota for backward Muslims, Jats and the upper caste poor. Soon after a letter of hers on reservation for Muslims, Union minority affairs and law minister Salman Khurshid announced on October 31 the government was in the process of reworking its reservation policy for Muslims.
“RLD and Congress are headed for an alliance in western UP, so we have to ensure there is a dent in that vote by enticing the Jat vote,” said another BSP insider. Mayawati’s overtures have her rivals worried. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, also the AICC incharge of UP, said before trifurcation, Mayawati should ask for the second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) to be summoned. Without taking the SRC and the Centre on board, trifurcation is not possible. So if the UPA dithers on the issue, the BSP would get more ammunition against the Congress.
