The OBC community of West Bengal has been ignored for a long time. Due to the domination of the Bhadralok community in Communist parties and TMC, other castes have been at the margins in the state. Therefore, BJP is targeting the non-Bhadralok community votes to come to power in the state and has promised OBC status to the Mahisyas.
Mahisyas, a caste that is believed to have originated from Kshatriyas and Vaishyas has a total population of above one crore, making it the single-largest caste in Bengal. The community is very influential in at least 50 constituencies of South Bengal – where BJP has not performed well – and can swing the results in its favour.
Birendranath Sashmal, Sushil Dhara, and Satish Samanta, the prominent figures of the community who led the independence movement against the British, are being brought to the forefront by BJP after being forgotten for decades.
The politics of West Bengal has always been dominated by Bhadralok Community, which constitutes three upper castes- Brahmin, Baidya, and Kayastha. These castes account for just 20 per cent of the state’s total population. But, all the CMs of the state– whether of CPM, Congress, or TMC– have all been from the Bhadralok community. OBCs, SCs, and STs never had a say in the politics of Bengal. And this was because the Communist Party never recognised the role of caste in social upliftment.
Mamata Banerjee, the CM of the state for the last nine years, ran the government just like the Communists. The only difference was that she carried out even a greater degree of Muslim appeasement. The state has a 17 per cent quota for OBCs, 10 per cent of which is reserved for Muslims. Hindu OBCs constitute more than half of the total OBC population but their quota share is less than that of the Muslims. Apart from this, the state has a 22 per cent quota for SCs and six per cent for STs in the state government jobs and the state-supported educational institutions.
Since the early 2010s, RSS has been tirelessly working in the state, especially in the OBC and ST-dominated areas. Dilip Ghosh, the current President of West Bengal BJP, who was appointed in 2015, comes from Sadgop caste and is from the Jungle Mahal region-one of the backward regions of the state- of West Bengal. Therefore, BJP is targeting the Hindu OBC, SC, and ST votes to come to power in the state.
Presumably, in the 2021 assembly elections, the people from the non-Bhadralok community are going to reclaim their rightful place in West Bengal’s politics and this will change the image of the state forever. The left-front and the TMC have destroyed the economy of the state, therefore, a regime change is necessary to put the state back on the path of growth. Now, only a regime change can bring back the golden days of ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’.