New Delhi: More ‘upper’ caste women, in particular those from the Brahmin and Thakur communities, have been elected MLAs and MPs than women from the numerically-dominant Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the last six major elections held in Uttar Pradesh since 2009.The UP assembly, with 403 members, is the largest state legislature in the country and politically one of the most important in terms of its bearing on national politics. UP also sends the highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha, 80.Amid a debate on the exclusion of OBC women from the defined quota within the 33% women reservation, The Wire gathered verified information from the UP secretariat about the caste background of all women MLAs elected in the state since 2012 and also identified the caste of all women MPs elected in UP in the 2009, 2014 and 2019 general elections.For the analysis of the caste of women MLAs, we considered the state assembly elections held in 2012, 2017 and 2022 as well as those candidates elected in by-polls held from time to time.The number of women elected to the 403-member UP Assembly increased from 40 in the period of 2012-2017 to 46 in 2017-2022 and 48 in the period from 2022 till the present day. At the time when the assembly election results were declared, 35 women were elected in 2012, 42 in 2017 and 47 in 2022. The others were elected in subsequent by-polls.We found that out of the total 134 women candidates elected since 2012, 46 belonged to the Scheduled Castes category, all of them winning in reserved constituencies. The traditional UC were the second largest bloc, with 42 women MLAs while there were 39 women OBC MLAs. Seven Muslim women MLAs have also been elected since 2012. Even if we consider the actual number of women individuals elected as MLAs since 2012 – 107 – there were more UCs (32) than OBCs (31), showing the disproportionate representation enjoyed by the UCs, who are a minority within the Hindu fold.While 84 women MLAs were elected once, 19 were elected twice and four won on three occasions since 2012. Of the 19 women MLAs who were elected twice, there were six each from OBC and UC communities while seven were Dalits. Among the MLAs elected thrice, one was OBC, one Dalit and two UC Brahmins.The exclusion of a defined quota for OBC women within the 33% women reservation bill introduced by the Narendra Modi government – the bill was subsequently passed by both Houses of parliament – has been a key question raised by opposition parties led by the Congress. They have even demanded a similar quota for Muslim women.Opposition party MPs flagged concerns that without a defined quota for OBC and Muslim women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, the purpose of the Bill would be incomplete in a graded, caste-ridden society where the backward and marginalised castes and communities, in particular their women, were underrepresented in all spheres of life. The new bill provides one-third sub-quota for SC and ST women on the seats constitutionally already reserved for the SC and ST communities, and does not create a new category for OBCs or Muslims.Such a demand to provide a defined quota for OBC women was raised by all major opposition parties in the key states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where socialist Mandal-era parties had earlier opposed the women reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies on the ground that it did not provide intersectional representation. When the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power, top socialist leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav had argued that without defined quotas within the women reservation for OBCs, SCs, STs and Muslims, the law would primarily benefit privileged women from urban areas instead of empowering marginalised women who lagged in terms of literacy, cultural and social capital. At the Lok Sabha level, too, in the last three general elections held in 2009, 2014 and 2019, excluding by-polls, we find that UC women had a greater presence than OBC women as well as Dalit women. In 2009, 11 women MPs were elected in UP of which six were UC, two Muslim, two from Dalit communities and one, from an OBC community.In 2014, 13 women MPs were elected, of whom five each were were Dalit and OBC communities while three were UC.In 2019, of the 11 women MPs elected, five each were OBC and UC, while one was from a Dalit community. Seats are not reserved for the OBC in Lok Sabha and assembly elections.Since accurately identifying a married woman MP’s caste can be tricky in our patriarchal society, we have stuck to the surname and caste identity assumed by her after marriage rather than at birth. For instance, Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav, though born into a Kshatriya family, uses the OBC Yadav surname of her husband, Akhilesh. She is therefore counted as an OBC. It is easier to confirm the caste identity of MLAs in UP as they are expected to declare it in their bio-data in the assembly.Dimple Yadav at a Samajwadi Party rally is Wazirganj, Uttar Pradesh. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad MahaprashastaThe Samajwadi Party came to power in UP in 2012 with a comfortable majority. In 2017 and 2022, the elections were won by the Bharatiya Janata Party with even greater seat tallies. A government-wise break-up shows that when Akhilesh Yadav was in power from the time of his election in 2012 to March 2017, 13 OBC women, 13 Dalit women, 11 UC women and three Muslim women were elected as MLAs.In the first tenure of Chief Minister Adityanath, from 2017 March to 2022, 13 OBC women, 12 Dalit women, 20 UC women and 1 Muslim woman were elected as MLAs. During Adityanath’s second tenure, which is still on, 13 OBC women, 21 Dalit women, 11 UC women and three Muslim women were elected.There is no accurate data for the present OBC and UC populations in the absence of a caste census.But according to the 1931 caste-based survey and surveys published by various government commissions thereafter, the percentage of Hindu OBCs itself in UP was upwards of 40% of the total population. The 2001 social justice committee headed by Hukum Singh had calculated the total OBC population in UP to be 54.05%. The estimate of the OBC population is important to reflect the disproportionate representation enjoyed by UC candidates in power. Around one-fifth (19.5%) of UP’s population is Muslim while another 21.5 % are SCs, according to 2011 Census figures.The caste figures of just the last three assembly elections show that Muslim women represented only 5% of the women elected in the assembly, while OBC women represented 29% and UC women 31% of the total women legislators. The share of the SC women was 34%, but all of the seats they were elected from were constituencies reserved for the category.Within the UCs, most of the women MLAs in 2012, 2017 and 2022 belonged to the Thakur and Rajput communities (21) followed by Brahmins (16), Baniya (3), Bhumihar (1) and Kayastha (1). As many as 12 Thakur and Rajput women MLAs were elected in the period 2017-2022.The 52-member Adityanath council of ministers at present has only four women ministers. While three – Baby Rani Maurya, Gulab Devi and Vijay Laxmi Gautam – are from Dalit communities, one (Rajni Tiwari) is a Brahmin. Maurya is the only woman cabinet minister in the present government.Overall, if we compare the council of ministers in the two governments run by Adityanath – 2017 and 2022 – we find that while UCs continue to enjoy disproportionate representation, the share of OBCs has improved in the second tenure of the BJP.As of today, out of 52 ministers in UP, OBCs and UCs occupy 21 berths each, which is 40.38% each. Dalits hold 17.3% of the posts, with nine ministers. There is a lone Muslim minister. In September 2021, when the first Adityanath government’s council of ministers had reached its maximum allowed strength of 60, it had a higher percentage of UCs. Out of the 60 ministers, 27 (45%) were UC, 23 (38.3%) were OBC and nine (15%) were Dalits. Then too, there was just a single token Muslim minister.One could explain the greater representation in power given by the BJP to OBCs in the second Adityanath government to the shift in politics of its main rival in UP, Akhilesh Yadav, who has openly embraced social justice rhetoric and strategy of providing more space to OBC and Dalit faces and issues. The 2022 election, which Yadav lost despite putting up a brave fight and nominating a rainbow of OBC candidates, would be remembered for him promising to carry out a caste census and providing the ‘Bahujans’ their “rights, honour and representation,” as per their share in the population.With Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also taking a leaf out of Bahujan politics icon Kanshiram’s book and echoing the slogan, ‘Jiski jitni sankhya bhari, uski utni hissedari (those with the numbers have the stake)’, one wonders if the Congress is also willing to fully embrace social justice politics that it had shied away from for decades.Indeed, the exclusion of a defined quota for OBC women in the women reservation and its indefinite implementation programme have provided a common ground for social justice politics for the Congress and its Mandal politics allies in UP and Bihar, which together have 120 Lok Sabha seats. The question is, will they take the narrative beyond the walls of parliament and to the people as we head to the 2024 Lok Sabha election? The caste census may be a long-time waiting but for now, can the ruling party as well as the Opposition parties tell us how many OBC and women MPs and MLAs are there in the country?
