'One-Sided Beneficiary Classes': BJP Takes On Mamata Govt Over OBC List In Bengal, TMC Hits Back

Last Updated:June 11, 2025, 21:24 IST

The TMC hit back at the BJP to "stop misleading the people" and said the party's "only agenda" was "divide and rule" with an eye on the 2026 assembly elections

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee | File Image/PTI

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said backwardness is the only benchmark to decide OBC status, the ruling TMC and opposition BJP exchanged barbs over the inclusion of beneficiaries under the category. 

The BJP, in a detailed post on social media, accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of “appeasement politics". It said for the Bengal government, OBC expanded to “One-Sided Beneficiary Classes" and not Other Backward Classes.

The TMC hit back at the BJP’s claims about the new list and to “stop misleading the people with your lies". It said the saffron party’s “only agenda" is “divide and rule" with an eye on the assembly elections in 2026.

On Tuesday (June 10), Mamata Banerjee told the state assembly that there is no connection with religion in deciding the inclusion of any person in the OBC category. She said the only benchmark to decide this in the state is backwardness and a commission set up by the state government is holding a survey on 50 new subsections for inclusion in that category.

Banerjee addressed the House after laying the annual report of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes for the financial year 2024-25.

WHAT DID THE BJP SAY?

In a post on social media, opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari claimed to “fact check" Banerjee’s speech on the floor of the state assembly.

He said this was “peak appeasement politics" by the state government. “OBC = Other Backward Classes. In West Bengal it means One-Sided Beneficiary Classes," he said in a post on X.

Adhikari alleged that the reservation list is prepared with the intention of providing “exclusively to Muslims" and “deliberately depriving" Hindus and other religious communities. 

He said the government has increased the reservation for OBCs in state services and posts to 17 per cent, including 10 per cent reservation for ‘more backward’ and 7 per cent for ‘backward’ classes categories. Before this, he added, a 7 per cent reservation had been in place since 1997.

“Now, who are going to reap the benefits of the increased reservation for the OBCs? Muslims, as simple as that," he wrote.

The BJP leader said in December 2024, the Supreme Court had observed reservation must not be based on religion. This was while it was hearing an appeal filed by the West Bengal government against the Calcutta High Court judgment striking down its policy to include several castes, largely Muslim communities, in the state’s OBC list.

WHAT DID THE TMC SAY?

Responding to the BJP’s claims, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh provided details of the OBC list, as per state government data. 

“LoP @SuvenduWB, we all know that ‘Divide and Rule’ is the official policy of @BJP4India, and your only agenda for the 2026 elections is to pit Hindus against Muslims," Ghosh said in a post on X.

He said the Chief Minister had made it “crystal clear" in her speech that backwardness, not religion, was the sole criteria for OBC status.

“…The new list was prepared with that principle in mind. So stop misleading the people with your lies," he added.

During her address in the assembly, Banerjee said there is a disinformation campaign on social media by some quarters. She said a commission set up by the government is holding a survey on 50 new subsections for inclusion in that category.

She further said 49 subsections have been included under the OBC-A and 91 under OBC-B categories. While more backward sections of people have been included under OBC-A, the less backward people come under OBC-B, she said. All inclusions have been done after extensive field surveys and on the basis of recommendations by the commission appointed for identification of such people, she added.

News politics 'One-Sided Beneficiary Classes': BJP Takes On Mamata Govt Over OBC List In Bengal, TMC Hits Back