The Opposition on Monday decided to support the politically-sensitive OBC amendment Bill that allows states to draw up their own beneficiary lists. The  government’s decision to introduce the Bill had put the opposition in a fix. The choice was between halting their Pegasus protest and passing the bill or stalling it and being branded ‘anti-OBC’. The OBCs constitute about 41% of India’s population.

“All Opposition parties will support The Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill 2021 being introduced in Parliament today,”  leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said, reports ANI.

This comes amid reports that the Opposition may use the debate to demand that the government make a provision to remove the 50% cap on reservations. The government decision to table the amended Bill is widely seen as a ploy to break the Pegasus logjam.

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Earlier, lobbing the ball into the Opposition court, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had told ET, “I appeal to the entire Opposition parties to extend their cooperation by forgetting the past differences… it involves the larger cause of OBC reservation and welfare.” A  Constitution Amendment Bill has to be passed by each House of Parliament by not less than two-thirds of the members of the House ‘present and voting’ and the House has to be in order.

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So far, the monsoon session of Parliament, which started on July 19,  has witnessed unruly scenes and slogan-shouting, members trooping to the well of the House and frequent adjournments. Their demand: Home Minister Amit Shah must make a statement on the alleged spying on prominent politicians and public figures. All that the has offered is a statement by I&B minister

A recap

A Supreme Court order of May had taken away the power from state government’s to draw up their own OBC lists, saying that a 2018 law had empowered only the Centre to draw such lists. 

This had drawn strong Opposition from states and political parties, who said  that each state had different caste-community combinations and a generic central list will not meet the purpose of OBC empowerment.

The government then brought an amended bill, which nullifies the Supreme Court’s decision. The bill seeks to amend Clause 1 and 2 of Article 342 A of the Constitution by inserting a new clause called 342 A (3) that will authorise states to maintain their own lists. In effect, the amendment nullifies the Supreme Court order.