Gujarat polls: Patidars accept Congress' quota formula, but will the courts agree?

Hardik Patel, leader of India’s Patidar community, addresses during a public meeting after his return from Rajasthan’s Udaipur, in Himmatnagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, India January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Amit Dave - RC16C40679F0

Patidar leader Hardik Patel said on Wednesday that Congress has created an acceptable formula over quota for the community if the party is voted to power in the Gujarat assembly elections to be held next month.

“We accept the formula given by Congress party to give reservation at par with OBC to non-reserved categories,” said Patel, the leader of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).

What is the formula?

The Patidars have been agitating for reservation in government jobs and education for the past two years under the leadership of PAAS and have been growing increasingly upset with the BJP due to the state government’s failure to approve the quota.

One of the main constraints the Gujarat government has faced in granting the Patidar community reservation at par with the Other Backward Classes (OBC) is the cap on total reservation to 50 percent in each state.

The Supreme Court ruled in a landmark case in 1992 (Indra Sawhney etc vs Union Of India And Others) that the total reservation including SC, ST and OBC quotas has to stay within the 50 percent limit to balance reservation against the principle of equality for every citizen as enshrined in Article 14 and clause 1 of Article 16. The apex court called the limitation a “constitutional prohibition”.

Critics have argued that even if the Congress grants reservation to the Patidars, it will cross the 50 percent cap and thus be subjected to a tussle with the Supreme Court. Such attempts by many states have previously been struck down by the judiciary.

Gujarat currently has 49 percent reservation comprising 7 percent for Scheduled Castes (SC), 15 percent for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 27 percent for OBCs.

Talking to the media, Patel said that if Congress comes to power, it will bring in a bill to give reservation to Patidars and will include the same in its upcoming election manifesto.

Congress said it would do so with the help of Article 46 and Article 31(C) of the Indian Constitution, he said.

Article 46 puts the onus on the state to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of Indian society and “protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation”.

Aticle 31C “saves” laws made by the state to give effect to certain directive principles, even if such laws are in violation of fundamental rights under Article 14.

The Patidar leader also added that the said formula is not only applicable to the Patidar community, implying it could be extended to others demanding the same. He also said that it would not affect the existing 49 percent reservation for the SC, ST and OBCs as has been perceived before.

The influence of Patels

While Hardik Patel refrained from lending open support for Congress in the upcoming Gujarat assembly election, he vowed to fight against BJP. This would eventually bring Patidar support for the Congress, especially when the party was looking after the community’s interest, said the leader of PAAS.

The politically influential community has traditionally been a BJP vote bank and Congress has been trying to lure them as the Patidars are disenchanted with the current government.

Congress on Monday put out a second list of candidates, in which four candidates from its first list were dropped to accommodate four others with an intention to pacify the PAAS leaders. Among the four new inductions, there were three from the PAAS.

However, Patel has told the media that PAAS was not looking for tickets from Congress and rather wanted to focus on the reservation issue.