If Banerjees and Bhattacharjees or Basus, Sens and Dasguptas, have ruled the roost in Bengal's political scene for all these days, it is time to take a look at other surnames — Kapali, Satchasi, Barui, Mali — from other backward classes (OBC). People with these surnames, both Hindu and Muslim, are poised to hog the limelight in the coming panchayat polls, courtesy Mamata Banerjee government.
The Trinamool Congress government has decided to reserve seats for the OBCs in the three-tier panchayat elections based on the community's representation in rural Bengal. A household survey conducted by the panchayat department bears out that the reservation percentage will be an average 25%. The reservation percentage may go up in districts like Murshidabad, Nadia, and Coochbehar that have a large number of the listed 143 OBCs in the district population. The last OBC census was done in 1931.
The findings of the survey have put forth a challenge before the panchayat department to give due weightage to the OBCs and at the same time keep the total reservation percentage to 50% as mandated by the Supreme Court.
The household survey in rural Bengal is aimed at countering the old Left mindset that didn't recognise the huge presence of OBCs in Bengal, during the Mandal Commission debate. Former land and land reforms minister Benoy Chowdhury had then said there was no sizeable OBC population in Bengal. But later, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government hiked the OBC reservation percentage in government jobs from 7% to 17%. The reality seems much more than what the Left Front government had enumerated.
With 86 surnames of the total 143 listed as OBCs coming from Muslim, the reservation takes care of the minority community that has a sizeable representation at the grassroots. A cursory look at the OBC list suggests that the selection has been made based on the occupation rather than religion that helps the state government to fend for the rural poor without making any religion-based reservation that goes against the Constitution.
The panchayat polls will thus have reservation for women and OBCs other than the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes for the first time in the state. Fifty per cent reservation for women in all categories — general, SC and ST — was announced by former panchayat minister Anisur Rahman, even though it hit a legal roadblock.
Mamata has taken care of it by amending the reservation provision. The new arrangement is less easy than said. The government has to reserve seats for women in all categories after making separate reservation provisions for SC, ST and OBC. Political parties will have to field candidates according to the formula.
CPM leaders have called a three-day extended state committee meeting beginning September 14, where they will explain the complex formula of candidate selection for the panchayat polls. Mamata and state Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya will hold separate workshops for their partymen.
Chief secretary Samar Ghosh has already held a meeting with state election commissioner Meera Pandey on poll preparations. According to sources, the state election commission wants to have a phase-wise panchayat polls. The chief secretary, however, denied having any such discussion.
"The government has not yet decided on the panchayat poll date. We have just started discussions on the preparations. The government can recommend the date of the panchayat polls anytime within six months before the tenure of the present panchayat ends," Ghosh said.
With the panchayat tenure ending in May, chances are that the state election commission will announce the panchayat polls in January.
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