Other Backward Classes are communities other than SC and ST that suffer from educational and social backwardness. These are also referred to as ‘backward castes’. The support for Congress among many sections of the ‘backward castes’ declined. This created a space for non-Congress parties that drew more support from these communities. The rise of these parties first found political expression at the national level in the form of the Janata Party government in 1977. Many of the constituents of the Janata Party, like the Bharatiya Kranti Dal and the Samyukta Socialist Party, had a powerful rural base among some sections of the OBC.

Who chaired the Second Backward Classes Commission that recommended reservations for Other Backward Classes?

Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal

Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal chaired the Second Backward Classes Commission that recommended reservations for Other Backward Classes.