Formation of OBC Morcha will help expand party's base: BJP

BJP today said the formation of an OBC Morcha will help it expand its base among the largest community, which holds key to electoral fortune in poll-bound Bihar and states like Uttar Pradesh.
OBCs, a collection of numerous intermediary castes, constitute anywhere between 40 and 50 per cent of the total population, and the party said in a statement that they participated in large numbers in its recent membership drive.
Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was working overtime for development of all communities, BJP said its outreach to the community will help enhance the group's representation in polity and also widen its base.

"A good message has gone across to the community after party chief Amit Shah took this decision (to form the morcha)... OBCs influence politics across the country and are very important in many states. They are particularly in large numbers in north India," it said in a statement.
The party has appointed former MP and UP leader S P Baghel as president of the Morcha, which was announced yesterday.
The move by the party to form a separate wing for the OBCs is seen as part of its effort to woo the community in poll-bound Bihar and the other politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, where it has been out of power for long but emerged strong in the Lok Sabha polls bagging an overwhelming majority of the seats.

OBCs have traditionally backed regional satraps like Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar and Mulayam Singh Yadav but the BJP has succeeded in winning over a section of them over the years.