Our caste warriors will not even ask these questions, let alone explore better solutions to address the problems of inequality and skewed life outcomes, argues R Jagannathan.
The court held that the states were not required to 'collect quantifiable data' reflecting the backwardness among these communities.
The election management committee and the election manifesto committee were formed by the party's national president J P Nadda.
Raising a new demand on the women's bill, the Samajwadi Party on Monday sought a 50 per cent quota for women in educational institutes as well as government jobs. The demand was made by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has already called for "reservation within reservation" for Muslim women and backward classes in the Women's Reservation Bill.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) and all the state authorities to ensure that process for local bodies' election is "immediately commenced" in accordance with the recommendation made by the dedicated commission for reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBC).
"Articles 15(4) and 16(4) (dealing with provision for socially and educationally backward classes, and reservation) do not put any limit on the percentage of quota and there is no constitutional hurdle in increasing the same," Sharad Pawar said.
Espousing an aggressive pro-backward and Dalit stance synchronising with the Maurya controversy, the SP has thrown down the gauntlet with Akhilesh upping the ante on the burning topic, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
Anupriya Patel, Pankaj Chaudhary and B L Verma are from the Other Backward Classes, which BJP leader in UP say make up 50 per cent of voters in the state. Three others -- Kaushal Kishore, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma and S P Singh Baghel -- are from the Scheduled Castes category. Ajay Kumar is the lone Brahmin in this batch of ministers from the state.
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
Party sources are tight-lipped about the fate of Tyagi, who is a trusted aide of Kumar, the party's supreme leader, but has reportedly often left the latter embarrassed by going public on issues without waiting for a nod from the boss.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday posed a slew of queries to the Centre on the grant of 10 per cent quota in admissions and government jobs to the EWS category, saying the "slice of cake" of 50 per cent open general seats available to OBCs above the creamy layer now stands reduced to 40 per cent.
The ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress described it as the 'social cabinet', with 70 per cent representation to the BC, SC, ST and minority communities.
'Bihar's caste survey has bolstered the Opposition parties, but one shouldn't forget that the BJP is also trying to present itself as a party that cares for the OBCs more than other parties,' points out Sanjay Kumar.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, strongly argued in favour of granting quota to SC/ST employees.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
'All of these guys who are opposing the Supreme Court judgment are from dominant scheduled caste communities and none of them come from the scavenging community.' 'Not a single scavenging leader will oppose this Supreme Court judgment.'
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday claimed that contrary to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's "false propaganda" that the population of Muslim community was increasing in the country, the number of the minority community members vis-a-vis Hindus was fast declining, and added that he could prove it.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday arrested five people, including a man who they claimed to be the personal secretary of former minister Swami Prasad Maurya, for allegedly duping unemployed youth on the pretext of giving them government jobs.
Will a caste census make tens of millions desert Mr Modi?, asks Shekhar Gupta.
'Where is the remote control in the BJP? When I become president, the remote control will stay with me'
The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.
The top law officer said that even if some people of the community have come up, the stigma of caste and backwardness is still attached to them.
A principal in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district worked out his own "caste arithmetic", segregating students of Class IX on the basis of their caste and appointing class teachers on a similar basis, prompting authorities to remove him.
Aam Aadmi Party founder member and former MP Ilyas Azmi on Monday quit the party citing "lack of inner democracy" in the organisation.
"Now, Rahul Gandhi calls the entire OBC community thieves. He gets flak in the courts but he refuses to apologise thus showing how deep-rooted his hatred for OBCs is. The people of India did not forgive him in 2019. In 2024 the punishment will be more severe," he said.
"You cannot just pick Rs 8 lakh out of the thin air and fix it as a criteria. There has to be some basis, some study. Tell us whether any demographic study or data was taken into account in fixing the limit. How do you arrive at this exact figure? Can the Supreme Court strike down the criteria, if no study was undertaken?" the Supreme Court asked.
The impact of the national test among aspirants, people and several sections of society has been dealt with and the report is completely based on data and not on personal opinions, the panel head said.
A stay order could have paved the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as Member of Parliament (MP).
The Patidar community leader pitched for constitutional protection to the provision of reservation for them so as to preclude a judicial review.
Prasad also attacked the previous United Progressive Alliance government for letting the women's reservation bill, introduced by it, lapse.
Manjhi, is the president of Hindustani Awam Morcha, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
It's great to win election after election on the strength of Modi's charisma and voter appeal, but the larger the Modi myth grows, the more the BJP diminishes, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday effected a major reshuffle in his three-year-old ministry inducting 12 fresh faces into his new team of 21 ministers.
A BJP source admitted that a census will inevitably reconfirm the numerical majority of the OBCs. 'That will overturn social equations and consign the upper castes to a twilight zone of marginalisation. The RSS won't accept it.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
The Supreme Court Friday set aside a Madras High Court direction that the Centre must seek the top court's approval before implementing 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections in all-India quota seats of medical colleges.
For several months, there has been speculation among political circles in Amaravati that Priti Adani was most likely to be given one of the four Rajya Sabha seats on behalf of the ruling YSRC.
Priyanka wants to have 33 per cent representation of women in the organisation given the fact that they are not be related to party leaders.
The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday announced sweeping organisational reforms, saying it will now follow the one family, one ticket principle at elections and ensure that half of its contestants are below 50.
A 17-year-old girl died right outside a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri, allegedly after the staff removed her from there after treating her for two days.
Five-time MLA Parshottam Solanki, who is also known as 'Bhai' among his followers, has been winning Bhavnagar-Rural with a comfortable margin.
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