BJP playing communal card over OBC reservation issue, says Trinamool

Following the chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) accusing the Bengal government of doing appeasement politics over the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation, Trinamool Congress (TMC) in turn has accused the BJP of doing communal politics over the issue.

NCBC chairperson Hansraj Ahir has alleged discrepancies in the granting of OBC status under the state list in West Bengal. He said that out of 179 OBC groups in the Bengal state list, 118 belong to the Muslim community, adding that there are also complaints that Bangladeshi immigrants and some Rohingyas have been included in Bengal’s OBC list. He accused the Bengal government of playing appeasement politics.

The BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar also tweeted: “Mamata govt is offering the OBC quota & their reservation in WB to Muslims in an attempt to appease them. The benefit of 91.5% reservation in Bengal has been given to Muslims, while OBCs & other people have been denied their rights”.

Refuting the allegations, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that with the Panchayat election around the corner, BJP has picked up its communal bugle. He said that the NCBC chairman, Hansraj Ahir, who is also a former BJP MP, “needs to be told that the inclusion of any caste, Hindu or Muslim, in the State OBC list is done after consulting the Backward Classes Commission. Moreover, a community’s higher representation in the State List doesn’t correlate with the population benefited.”

Kunal also wrote on his Twitter handle: “Pitting one community against another, National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) Chairman and former@BJP4India MP,@ahir_hansraj has accused the GoWB of depriving certain Backward Castes of their rights…If NCBC and Shri @JP Nadda are really worried about the welfare of our people, they should implore PM@narendramodi to release Bengal’s funds worth rs 1.15 lakh crore that his government has blocked”