a study done by the hindi daily 'dainik bhaskar' reveals that there are 125 parliamentary (lok sabha) constituencies in india which elect only savarna or upper caste candidates in every election. no, not because they're savarna majority constituencies..you could say those constituencies are permanently reserved for the upper castes, by custom. and custom is always stronger in india than law, as we know. please check the heading the newspaper gives to the section of the news report which deals with this phenomenon:
सवर्ण हिंदू - 125 सीटेंये वोट बैंक नहीं है, फिर भी कुछ सीटों पर किसी भी धर्म और जाति से परे पार्टियां और लोग सवर्णों को ही चुनते हैं
'they (savarna hindus) are not vote banks, but parties and people choose/elect only savarnas in these seats'. how dare anyone call the upper castes in india vote banks, right? that's a term permanently reserved for the marginalized castes and religious groups in the brahminized imagination.
the number of the constituencies reserved for the upper castes (125) exceeds the total number of parliamentary seats reserved for the dalits and adivasis put together (121). while the combined population of the scheduled castes (16.6%, 2011 census) and the scheduled tribes (8.6%) in india is around 25.2%, the share of seats reserved for them in parliament comes to around 22% (2009), which obviously is less than their share in the population. but the share of parliamentary seats reserved (23%) for the savarnas or upper castes, very obviously, exceeds their share in the population (from 12.5% to 20%, according to various estimates).
the number of the constituencies reserved for the upper castes (125) exceeds the total number of parliamentary seats reserved for the dalits and adivasis put together (121). while the combined population of the scheduled castes (16.6%, 2011 census) and the scheduled tribes (8.6%) in india is around 25.2%, the share of seats reserved for them in parliament comes to around 22% (2009), which obviously is less than their share in the population. but the share of parliamentary seats reserved (23%) for the savarnas or upper castes, very obviously, exceeds their share in the population (from 12.5% to 20%, according to various estimates).
but those are not the only seats reserved for the upper castes in parliament, if one looks at history more closely. if a more comprehensive study of all the constituencies in the country (excluding the ones reserved, by law, for the dalits and adivasis) is done, one would definitely find that every single one of them, or overwhelmingly most of them, elected savarna/upper caste mps on more occasions than they chose non-savarna mps.
those 125 reserved constituencies are not the only ones which sent savarna mps to the lok sabha in the 2009 elections, for instance. in the 297 seats that remain after excluding the reserved seats (those reserved formally, by law, for the dalits and adivasis, plus those reserved, by custom, for the upper castes), the upper caste share ranges from around 100-150 seats (in the 297 'unreserved' seats). the muslims and the obcs have to share the rest of the seats.
as long as political parties continue to reserve those 125 constituencies for the upper castes, there is no point in voters from dalit bahujan and minority religious communities exercising their franchise there. don't vote.
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2 comments:
"while the combined population of the scheduled castes (16.6%, 2011 census) and the scheduled tribes (8.6%) in india is around 25.2%, the share of seats reserved for them in parliament comes to around 22% (2009), which obviously is less than their share in the population."
I would be thankful that the dalits and tribals are allotted such a decent number of seats in the Parliament. I wonder the difference of 3.2% (25.2% - 22%)is statistically significant. Is there a middle class of dalits and tribals? Do you agree there are 10 to 20% of these populations are middleclass? They too need reservations? What is the reason for combining dalit and tribal populations which are ethnically different? From the tone of the article it looks like you want the savarnas to leave the public life. Don't they have to look after their interests? Even in countries like America it is impossible to come up with such a cosy reservation system.
The whites make up a majority in America. Savarnas are a minority here.
Before reservation, every seat was a de facto a savarna seat because no major parties put up dalit candidates or minorities,forget tribals. A person who votes for a party would vote for it, irrespective of the candidate put up. Because of funding and publicity issues-namely corporate donations and paid news, independent candidates rarely get a chance.
And the so called middle class is largely an upper class - made up of those earning 8-10 lakhs a year -largely due to land appropriated from the poor.
And you're 'cozy' reservation system is hardly implemented, so you needn't worry your interests are safe. Also, you just admitted since savarnas, a minority promote only there interests, it makes reservations all the more pertinent.
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