http://www.deccanchronicle.com/columnists/kancha-ilaiah/bjp%E2%80%99s-small-state-theoryBJP's small state theory
October 19, 2011
With the Telangana question reaching a climactic stage it is necessary
to examine the implication of carving out small states for issues such
as reservations in general and the OBC reservations in particular. Dr
B.R. Ambedkar argued for small states and a strong Centre to put a
check on feudal upper caste forces in the states. But he could not
succeed in convincing the Centre, even when it was headed by the first
Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, a progressive man of that time, to
grant reservations to OBCs.
OBCs could get reservations only in big states such as Tamil Nadu and
later in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Rajahmundry resolution of
1996 also pleaded for small states though it was far away from the
position of Dr Ambedkar. But it did not succeed in carving out small
states by dividing the well-established linguistic states across the
country.
What it cleverly did was to carve out three tribal states —
Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — which do not have any
bearing on larger states. The BJP could not impose its small state
theory on semi-tribal region like Gorkhaland because of strong
resistance from the then Communist Party of India-Marxist government
in West Bengal.
It could have easily divided Jammu and Kashmir and separated Vidarbha
from Maharashtra and Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. But it could not.
Even if we assume that it could not resolve the Telangana question
because of the Telugu Desam's pressure and the Vidarbha issue because
of Shiv Sena, why it could not separate Jammu from Kashmir?
Now while being out of power, the BJP wants to achieve the target and
Telangana is its immediate goal. Quite surprisingly the BJP has even
made common cause with the Maoists of Andhra Pradesh for achieving
Telangana. The TRS, the RSS and Maoist forces have together formed a
common joint action committee and are working hand in hand. The RSS
has now, in fact, expanded to all the districts of the Telangana
region.
The major stakeholders of the small state movement are OBC, SC, STs
and the minorities, who are watching it from outside with fear and
anxiety. While the leaders are the upper castes, some of them rabid
anti-reservationists, the mobs constitute of OBC youth.
It is a known fact that the question of reservations in general and
the OBC reservations in particular was never an agenda of the BJP and
the Maoists. They only accept is as an inevitable aspect. If big
states such as Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were not in the
hands of OBC or SC leadership with substantial MPs with them, the 27
per cent central reservation for OBCs would not have materialised.
Even if small states come into being and a quasi-unitary system comes
into existence and even if an OBC man like Narendra Modi himself
becomes the Prime Minister, the reservation system will be in doldrums
because personally Mr Modi never worked for the reservation system.
Leave alone him, no BJP OBC chief ministers like Shivraj Singh Chauhan
or Kalyan Singh (with the exception of Uma Bharti) have fought for OBC
reservations.
The BJP is planning to hang the Congress with two ropes — corruption
and small states. If the BJP's small states agenda is executed at one
place, it can spread like wildfire to state after state. The BJP knows
that very well. The BJP is successful in working with its enemy — the
Maoists — and the Congress has fallen into the trap. The question of
regional disparities could have been handled quite seriously by the
Centre on a long-term basis.
Some of the pro-reservation forces — including Uttar Pradesh chief
minister Mayawati — believe that Dr Ambedkar's theory of small states
is applicable now. But that is textbook thinking. In a globalised
capital resource mobilisation, the small but rich castes can establish
a greater control on the lower caste masses in small states. In a
situation where even the judiciary, time and again, goes against
reservations, without the presence of OBC/dalit-controlled states like
Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, deconstruction of reservations is
rather easy.
It is common sense that big states assert greater autonomy and small
states cannot. The Centre can treat them like districts. And if a
communal party is in power, organising communal carnages is absolutely
easy. The principle of linguistic state is not sacrosanct but the
state should protect the interests of the vulnerable sections during
crisis moments. Did we not have the experience of Emergency?
A state such as Tamil Nadu did not bend to Indira Gandhi's dictates so
easily. On the issue of imposing linguistic hegemony also, it resisted
for greater good.
The OBC, SCs, STs must weigh their survival options quite carefully.
The BJP did not propose the small state thesis out of love for Dr
Ambedkar. Those OBC, SC, STs who think that political power will fall
like an apple on their lap in small states are living in a fool's
paradise.
The writer is director, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and
Inclusive Policy, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad
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