West Bengal Assembly Passes OBC Amendment Bills, Removes 77 Muslim Communities From List

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Monday passed two Bills amending laws enacted by the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government governing Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in the state.

The two legislations: the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (Amendment) Bill, 2026 were introduced by Minister for Backward Classes Welfare Gourishankar Ghosh.

With their passage, reservation benefits will now extend to only 66 classes under the OBC category, down from the earlier expanded list. The Bills also formally revise the OBC quota from 17% (10% under Category A and 7% under Category B) to a uniform 7%, in line with the Calcutta High Court's directions.

77 Muslim Communities Dropped From List

Of the communities removed, all 77 belong to the Muslim community. These include Muslim Nehariya, Muslim Haldar, Muslim Sanpui, Muslim Mali, Ghosi (Muslim), Muslim Darji/Ostagar/Idrisi, Muslim Rajmistri, Muslim Batiyara, Muslim Molla and Dhali (Muslim), among others.

However, several Muslim communities have been retained in the new 66-member OBC list, including Jolah (Ansari Momin), Fakir, Pahadia Muslim, Hajjam (Muslim) and Chowduli (Muslim), groups that officials say were included on the basis of surveys conducted prior to 2010.

What the Minister Said

Introducing the Bills, Ghosh insisted the government was merely implementing judicial orders and denied any political motive. "We have removed 113 classes included earlier without conducting any field survey, and retained 66 sub-classes, which were included following various surveys," he told the House.

He added that the Backward Classes Commission would now conduct fresh inquiries into any future claims for inclusion. "The previous TMC government had bypassed the Commission, and that is why the High Court struck down the process," Ghosh said.

BJP MLA from Dum Dum, Arijit Bakshi, backed the Bills, accusing the erstwhile TMC dispensation of expanding the OBC list "solely to appease the minority community and secure its vote bank, thereby depriving the genuinely backward sections."

TMC MLAs Split During Voting

The debate saw an unusual coming-together of both TMC factions: loyalists of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and rebels led by Ritabrata Banerjee, even as cracks emerged within the rebel camp itself.

ISF MLA Nawsad Siddiqui objected to a voice vote and sought a division, saying the Bills "should have been discussed before they were passed." TMC MLAs Javed Khan and Sabina Yasmin joined the demand, which Speaker Rathindra Basu allowed.

While most rebel TMC MLAs walked out, five: Kajal Sheikh, Baharul Islam, Byron Biswas, Pannalal Halder and Tausifur Rahman, stayed back, defying their faction's stance. Mamata loyalists including Sobhandeb Chatterjee, Biman Banerjee, Kunal Ghosh, Alifa Ahmed and Pulak Roy remained and voted against the Bills.

Eventually, 186 votes went in favour of the Bills, and 17 against, including one from within the rebel TMC group.

The Road From 2010 to 2026

The changes trace back to a Calcutta High Court order of May 2024, which struck down OBC status granted to 77 communities, most added between 2010 and 2012, calling the inclusions "illegal and unconstitutional." The bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Rajasekhar Mantha observed that the classification appeared designed to treat a community "as a vote bank."

The verdict effectively cancelled around 12 lakh OBC certificates issued after 2010, though it protected those who had already secured jobs under the quota, while certificates issued before 2010 were held valid.

Days after forming government in Bengal, the BJP issued a notification on May 18 discontinuing the religion-linked categorisation and restoring the pre-2010 list of 66 OBC communities eligible for the 7% quota, a decision the Assembly has now formalised through legislation.