some interesting facts from the book The State Of India's Democracy by Sumit Ganguly, Larry Jay Diamond and Marc F. Plattner (page 78, table 3): since 1980, the upper caste control over the uttar pradesh legislative assembly has weakened a little: from holding 42.40% of the elected seats, it has gone down to 35.38% in 2002. a loss of 7% of seats. the upper castes (brahmin, rajput, vaishya etc.,) in uttar pradesh constitute around 20% of the total population. you can clearly see, despite all the melodramatic talk, in the media and elsewhere, about the upper castes being driven into political penury of sorts, they continue to be overrepresented, and by a wide margin, in the state assembly.
and the obcs and muslims, who constitute around 40% and 17% (of the u.p. population) respectively, are again very clearly underrepresented, by a wide margin.
another interesting fact is the 7% loss in seats held by the upper castes since 1980- these were primarily a loss suffered by the brahmin community in the state. but don't bother calling the dirge singers just yet- the number of brahmin mlas in the state assembly roughly equals their proportion in the total population.
but please don't jump to the conclusion that the brahmins' loss has been the obcs' gain: the share of obc mlas has gone up from 16.91% in 1980 to 27.52% in 2002. but if you look carefully, you'll realize that if you exclude the yadavs and the kurmis from the obcs, the others have gained nothing from the so-called mandal revolution. only two large castes, the yadavs and kurmis, have garnered all the extra positions the obcs have earned in the u.p. assembly since 1980!
the other obcs' position has remained almost static. the brahmins' loss has been the yadavs' and kurmis' gain. how about the 73 other obc communities in uttar pradesh? (pdf)
note: if anyone has access to facts relating to the caste composition of the current uttar pradesh assembly, please tell me about it.
and the obcs and muslims, who constitute around 40% and 17% (of the u.p. population) respectively, are again very clearly underrepresented, by a wide margin.
another interesting fact is the 7% loss in seats held by the upper castes since 1980- these were primarily a loss suffered by the brahmin community in the state. but don't bother calling the dirge singers just yet- the number of brahmin mlas in the state assembly roughly equals their proportion in the total population.
but please don't jump to the conclusion that the brahmins' loss has been the obcs' gain: the share of obc mlas has gone up from 16.91% in 1980 to 27.52% in 2002. but if you look carefully, you'll realize that if you exclude the yadavs and the kurmis from the obcs, the others have gained nothing from the so-called mandal revolution. only two large castes, the yadavs and kurmis, have garnered all the extra positions the obcs have earned in the u.p. assembly since 1980!
the other obcs' position has remained almost static. the brahmins' loss has been the yadavs' and kurmis' gain. how about the 73 other obc communities in uttar pradesh? (pdf)
note: if anyone has access to facts relating to the caste composition of the current uttar pradesh assembly, please tell me about it.
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