Did Amit Malviya Challenge Mamata's Claims on the New OBC List in Bengal?

Kolkata, June 11 (NationPress) Amit Malviya, the Chief of BJP's IT Cell and the party's central observer for West Bengal, vehemently denied the assertions made by Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, claiming that she is 'unnecessarily' stirring controversies regarding the newly formulated list of Other Backward Class (OBC) communities. This list was prepared by the state government following a directive from the Supreme Court.

During her address at the Monsoon session of the Assembly on Tuesday, the Chief Minister asserted that the fresh survey aimed at determining the individuals eligible for inclusion in the OBC category had no connection with religion.

She further claimed that there were 49 castes categorized under OBC-A, while 91 castes fell under OBC-B, with the promise of an additional 50 castes being included soon.

CM Banerjee emphasized that the survey was predicated on economic backwardness rather than religious affiliation.

In response to her claims, Malviya issued a statement on Wednesday, asserting that the data provided by the state government was indeed influenced by religion rather than solely economic criteria.

Malviya highlighted that prior to 2010, during the Left Front administration, only 11 out of a total of 66 OBC classes were represented by the Muslim community, accounting for a mere 20 percent, while 55 classes belonged to the non-Muslim community.

In stark contrast, he noted that in the new additions set for 2025, 46 out of 51 new classes in Part 1 (approximately 90 percent) were Muslims, and 21 out of 25 new classes in Part 2 (about 84 percent) were also Muslims.

"If this isn't religion-based appeasement, what could it possibly be? On June 3, 2025, the West Bengal government raised the OBC reservation in state services from 7 percent to 17 percent—clearly to benefit these newly included Muslim groups. However, on December 9, 2024, the Supreme Court declared that reservations cannot be based on religion. The Calcutta High Court had previously nullified this exact list for the same reason. The new list represents a blatant contempt of court and a severe affront to the principles of social justice," Malviya expressed on his official X account.

Moreover, he pointed out that the OBC list explicitly states that individuals converting to Christianity will automatically acquire OBC status, along with their children enjoying the same benefits.

"Thus, conversion from Hinduism is being rewarded with OBC status and lifelong reservation benefits!" Malviya insisted.

In May 2024, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court annulled all OBC certificates issued in West Bengal post-2010, effectively nullifying all such documents issued during the Trinamool Congress regime since 2011.

As a result of the ruling by the division bench, presided over by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, over 500,000 OBC certificates issued during that timeframe were declared void and could no longer be utilized to access job reservations.

Following this judicial order, the West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court, which subsequently permitted the state to conduct a fresh survey to identify OBCs.

However, the BJP has consistently raised concerns regarding the methodology and execution of the ongoing survey by the state government.

Leader of the Opposition and BJP figure Suvendu Adhikari contended that the state government's fresh survey mirrored the previous one, which had been deemed invalid by the Supreme Court and was scrapped by the Calcutta High Court.