West Bengal Assembly Passes Bills Amending Backward Classes Laws

The West Bengal Assembly on Monday passed two important amendment bills related to backward classes. These bills amend the old law of 2012 of the previous Trinamool Congress government. During the voting in the house, the rebel TMC MLAs including the leader of the opposition Ritabrata Banerjee walked out. However, the faction loyal to Mamata Banerjee voted in favor of this amendment while remaining in the house. The names of these two bills passed in the assembly are'West Bengal Backward Classes (Except Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) (Amendment) Bill, 2026'and'West Bengal Backward Classes Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2026 '. Through these new bills, 66 classes have been given reservation under the OBC category. Following the directions of the Calcutta High Court, the quota of reservation has been reduced from the previous 17 percent to now 7 percent. Along with this, the OBC categories have also been reorganized. In the second law of the year, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly voted in favor of this amendment while 186 MLAs voted against it.