BJP in favour of reservation for poor among all castes

Party general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi ridiculed the Congress suggestion that the BJP go in for a constitutional amendment to push through the move, rather than delay it by referring the matter to a commission.

Naqvi said the Government cannot take an arbitrary action. The job of laying down the criteria for giving reservation benefits and the selection of castes has to be carried out by a commission. ‘‘It was amazing that a party, which had run the country for 47 years, was so naive as not to be aware of this mandatory requirement,’’ he said.

Naidu made light of the latest Congress stand that it was ready for a coalition with other parties. He said the Opposition was betraying its self-confidence. ‘‘After having maintained that regional parties are not good, they (Congress leaders) are at last admitting their failure,’’ he said.

The BJP foresees practical difficulties for the Congress to implement this idea. The Congress is competitor to its prospective national allies in states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Tripura. This contradiction would make an alliance difficult. If there is one at the end, the BJP hopes to fill the political space which they would vacate.

Naidu also ruled out resignation by Deputy PM L.K. Advani for being chargesheeted in the Babri Masjid demolition case. He said he could not be equated with Laloo Prasad Yadav. While the Ayodhya movement was a political agitation, the fodder scam was a criminal act. ‘‘There is no corruption or moral turpitude involved in the Ayodhya case,’’ Naidu said.

Regarding UP, he said: ‘‘We have enough numbers on our side. The government is stable and there is no danger to it. Some more MLAs from other parties are keen on supporting us. Things will be clear in the next two to three days.’’