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BJP leaders criticised the previous classification, alleging that religious groups were added to the OBC list for political reasons, while “depriving genuinely backward Hindu communities” of their share.

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India’s National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has recommended that the Union government remove 35 communities, most of them Muslim, from West Bengal’s central Other Backward Classes (OBC) list, following a review of communities added in 2014.

Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, former NCBC chairperson, said the recommendation came after scrutiny revealed a “high number of Muslim communities” listed under OBCs. He added that “one or two” communities may be non-Muslim.

The proposal requires parliamentary approval under the 102nd Constitutional Amendment and a presidential notification before taking effect. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has not indicated when the recommendation will be tabled.

BJP leaders criticised the previous classification, alleging that religious groups were added to the OBC list for political reasons, while “depriving genuinely backward Hindu communities” of their share.

The move comes amid a Supreme Court hearing challenging a Calcutta High Court order that had quashed the OBC status of 77 communities in West Bengal, most of them Muslim, after finding that “religion appeared to have been the sole criterion” for inclusion.

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