‘Commitment’ to the backwards communities is being promised and executed while ostracising the forward castes, which has not gone down well in the party.
NEW DELHI: Congress’s ongoing outreach to the backward classes has assumed a more prominent position following party leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent pronouncements in Bihar and at the AICC session in Ahmedabad.
However, this “commitment” to the backward communities is being promised and executed while ostracising the forward castes— something that has not gone down well with party leaders and functionaries from forward communities. It has also led to internal questions about how the Congress leadership plans to utilise their experience and expertise in the near future.
In Bihar, Gandhi reiterated that the party was committed to empowering historically marginalised communities, citing the recent election of district presidents as a tangible example of the changes he is initiating. He said that the party was moving away from a predominantly “upper caste” leadership structure toward greater representation of EBCs, OBCs, Dalits, and other backward communities.
According to senior Congress leaders, these assertions were not for local consumption alone, but reflected a broader national strategy that Gandhi aims to implement.
Gandhi went on to claim that those not belonging to the “upper castes” are often treated as second-class citizens—even as he ignored the visible discomfort his statements caused among several forward caste leaders, many of whom have been in the party for over two decades and were present in Patna.
To ensure his remarks were not perceived as mere political rhetoric, Gandhi explicitly acknowledged the Congress party’s past missteps in the 1990s, when it seemingly ignored the OBC community—a demographic he recognises as constituting over 50% of Indian society.
The Bihar caste census data released in October 2023 found that the total Hindu population in Bihar is 81.99% (107 million) of the total population. The majority of Bihar’s population belongs to the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) at 36.01% and the Other Backward Classes (OBC) at 27.12%, collectively accounting for a substantial 63.13%. Scheduled Castes (SC) constitute 19.65%, while Forward Castes (General) represent 15.52%. Scheduled Tribes (ST) make up a smaller proportion at 1.68%.
Muslims form a significant segment at 17.70%, while other religious groups — including Christians (0.05%), Sikhs (0.01%), Buddhists (0.08%), and Jains (0.01%)—constitute a small fraction.
Interestingly, the veracity of these figures came under scrutiny when the census data was released, with political parties in Bihar alleging that the numbers for certain castes and communities had been inflated on the government’s orders.
Later, while speaking at the AICC session in Ahmedabad, Gandhi further articulated this vision, stressing the necessity of strengthening the party’s reach among OBCs to effectively challenge the BJP and the Modi government. He presented a numerical argument, suggesting that combining OBCs with SCs, STs, and minorities could create a formidable mass base in support of Congress.
According to Gandhi, OBCs constitute more than 50% of Indian society, and when combined with Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and minorities, the total could reach nearly 90%, providing the party with a strong voter base.
This strategy is being interpreted by many political observers as Gandhi’s realisation that to weaken the BJP, he requires the support of OBC voters, who have largely supported Modi since 2014.
“Rahul Gandhi’s emphasis on OBC representation is an effort to win back these crucial voters. By highlighting issues of social justice, economic inequality, and the need for greater representation—especially by championing a caste census—he aims for the Congress to resonate with OBC communities,” a party leader who attended the Ahmedabad session told The Sunday Guardian over the phone.
However, this strategy—which has so far not yielded significant electoral dividends—is gradually alienating the remaining forward caste voters who have continued to support the Congress, particularly in states like Bihar where elections are due in November, as well as on a national level in future polls.
“Gandhi’s gamble rests on the belief that the potential gains from OBC support outweigh the risk of alienating the crucial segment of forward caste voters. In order to compete with the BJP and the Modi government, he has effectively made it clear that there is little or almost no space for those belonging to the forward castes in his political framework. He is not realising that while trying to give more representation to one segment based on caste, he is shrinking the space for others who have historically supported us. This ‘obsession’ with the backward classes is not just a matter of media speculation or analysis—it has become a topic of serious discussion among some of us. We believe Rahul needs to be told that the forward castes are not the Congress party’s enemy, because that’s how his statements and actions are being perceived,” a party in-charge from a northern state told
The Sunday Guardian after the Ahmedabad session.
According to him, given Gandhi’s strong focus on pro-OBC politics and policies, no one wants to risk falling out of favour by pointing out that his continued anti-forward caste rhetoric is pushing those communities further away from the party.