Amit Shah’s “first right on resources” reopens BJP’s GC faultline amid UGC anger

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion that the “first right” over the country’s resources belongs to the poor, Dalits, backward classes and tribals triggered a familiar political backlash online on Sunday, with a slice of general category (GC) users reading it as exclusionary and tone-deaf.

Shah inaugurated India’s first CBDC-based Public Distribution System (PDS) pilot in Gandhinagar, a programme pitched as a transparency push in subsidy delivery. The pilot covers 26,333 families across Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati zone, Surat, Anand and Valsad, with tokenised entitlements and Aadhaar-based authentication.

At the event, Shah framed welfare delivery as central to the Modi government’s model. He linked digitisation and DBT to reduced leakages and cleaner delivery.

मोदी जी ने देश के संसाधनों पर पहला अधिकार गरीबों, दलितों, पिछड़ों, आदिवासियों को दिया। pic.twitter.com/6ksmWZW1BA

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 15, 2026

The phrasing, however, has reopened an old political faultline. Shah has used broadly similar language earlier in election speeches, contrasting it with the Congress’ “first right” narrative and positioning the BJP as the party of the poor, Dalits, OBCs and tribals.

In 2026, the line lands in a more combustible environment.

General category groups are already mobilised around the UGC’s “Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026”. The regulations have drawn protests and have been put on hold by the Supreme Court.

A segment of students and professionals sees policy language as increasingly segmented by identity. They argue their own pressure points, fees, competitive exams, jobs and inflation, remain under-addressed in public messaging.

GC voters are not an “opposition” bloc for the BJP. They are a core, high-turnout segment in many urban and semi-urban constituencies. Even a small swing towards NOTA, abstention, or quiet drift to rivals can matter in tight seats.

The party has also seen how quickly such narratives can travel.

During the 2024 election cycle, the BJP alleged that clips of Shah’s remarks were edited or fabricated to spark fears around reservation. Police cases were also reported around such circulation.

This time, the backlash is being driven by an argument over emphasis, not editing.

Without contesting pro-poor welfare policies, a section of the BJP’s upper caste voters is asking why political leaders keep using “first right” language that implies a hierarchy of claims. The pushback is sharper because state resources are funded by all taxpayers, they argue.

The BJP’s standard counter is that welfare targeting is constitutionally and morally necessary. It also argues that “right” here refers to delivery priority, not exclusion.

The party can contain the fallout if it moves quickly on two fronts. It will need to clarify that “first right” is about plugging leakages and reaching the most vulnerable first, not denying anyone their due. It will also need to avoid giving rivals an easy parallel to older “first right” debates that the BJP has historically attacked.

For now, the episode reads as a messaging self-goal, amplified by an already-charged GC discourse around higher education rules.