ABP-CVoter Snap Poll: With the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament during the five-day Special Session, demands are being raised for introducing a sub-quota for women from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in the legislation. The 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', to be implemented following the first delimitation excercise, reserves one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women including the National Capital Territory of Delhi.


ABP News, in association with CVoter, conducted a snap poll aimed at gauging public sentiments about bringing an OBC sub-quota to the Women's Reservation. The snap poll, which encompassed both Opposition and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) supporters, provides insights into the views of the Indian electorate on the topic that has recently been at the forefront of political discourse.


In response to the question of whether there should have been a quota for women from the OBC category in the 33% Women's Reservation, a majority of people i.e. 51.9% of the total respondents agreed with the proposition. Among Opposition supporters, 56.0% supported the idea, while 45.6% of NDA supporters shared this viewpoint.


A contrasting 30.1% of the total respondents disagreed with the notion, with 28.3% of Opposition supporters and 32.8% of NDA supporters opposing the idea. Additionally, 18.0% of respondents, encompassing 15.7% of Opposition supporters and 21.6% of NDA supporters, expressed uncertainty or declined to provide an opinion.


Furthermore, the survey delved into the question of whether there should be similar reservations for other underrepresented groups in politics, such as minorities or marginalised communities.


A slim majority of 50.8% of the total respondents endorsed the idea, with 57.1% of Opposition supporters and 41.4% of NDA supporters supporting such reservations.


In contrast, 32.7% of the total respondents opposed the concept, with 28.2% of Opposition supporters and 39.6% of NDA supporters holding this perspective. Approximately 16.5% of respondents, including 14.7% of Opposition supporters and 19.1% of NDA supporters, remained undecided or chose not to express a viewpoint.


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Congress Demands OBC Subquota In Women's Reservation, BJP Dismisses It 


The backdrop to this snap poll lies in the recent remarks by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has called for the immediate implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill, expressing "100 per cent regret" that the bill proposed by the UPA government did not incorporate OBC reservations.


When asked if he regretted the absence of OBC quota in the 2010 women's reservation bill passed by the Rajya Sabha during the UPA government's tenure, Rahul Gandhi acknowledged, "There is 100 per cent regret. We should have done that back then, and we will get this done now", as quoted by news agency PTI.


He has also urged the government to conduct a caste census and disclose its findings while raising questions about the clause requiring delimitation exercise based on census data to be conducted for the Women's quota to be implemented.


Union Minister Giriraj Singh, on the other hand, has criticised the Congress party's demand for OBC sub-quota in the Women's Reservation Bill, labeling it as political theatrics. Singh called upon Rahul Gandhi to explain why OBCs were not granted a quota during the UPA rule.


Singh stated, "They should stop this drama. It should be asked from Rahul Gandhi and Nehru why OBCs weren't given recognition earlier. Congress ruled for so long, when did they worry about the OBCs."


Similarly, BJP MP Sushil Modi highlighted that reservation provisions are exclusively reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies, underlining that no other communities received such benefits. He pointed out, "No other communities were given the benefit of reservation... They (Opposition) don't have any love for OBCs, they wanted to stop women's reservation, which is why they kept raising the OBC issue. They don't have any love for Muslims or OBCs. OBCs have quotas in government jobs."


The diverse range of opinions reflected in the survey underscores the complexity of the matter and the varying viewpoints within the Indian electorate regarding quotas in the Women's Reservation and similar reservations for underrepresented groups in politics.


[Disclaimer: This survey was based on CVoter personal interviews conducted among 5,403 adults across India. Sometimes the table figures do not sum to 100 due to the effects of rounding off. The survey was conducted from Saturday to Sunday afternoon. The Margin of error is +/- 3% at the macro level and +/- 5% at the micro level. We believe this will give the closest possible resemblance to the trends.]