(ET)
The appointment of a commission headed by retired Delhi high court judge G Rohini to look at sub-categorisation of OBCs has again brought to the fore the clamour among political parties to woo this section, especially in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat where BJP is making all efforts to counter the challenge posed by agitations led by Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor.
For BJP, the OBC votes and the demand for backward caste status from Patels has become a major issue in in the Gujarat elections. Post demonetisation, BJP is also trying to widen its votebase beyond the business community and the Brahmins, and OBC support is high on its radar. Though it is not clear how much dent the Patel quota agitation led Hardik Patel will cause to the BJP, the party is leaving no stone unturned to rally its loyal vote bank behind it. Three public meetings of BJP chief Amit Shah were disrupted by Patel protestors in the last few days.
