Cong caught between Gehlot, BJP

While Congress leadership is seeking to underplay the issue of reservation to poor among the upper castes by stressing that it is a 8216;...

While Congress leadership is seeking to underplay the issue of reservation to poor among the upper castes by stressing that it is a 8216;8216;state-specific decision8217;8217;, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today wrote to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee reiterating his demand for a 8216;8216;dialogue at national level8217;8217; and a Constitutional amendment on the issue.

Even at the AICC level, the issue is not on the agenda for the Chief Ministers8217; conference starting in Srinagar on May 31, the last such meeting before the Assembly elections towards the year-end. Says Ambika Soni, AICC general secretary incharge of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh: 8216;8216;It could come up in CMs8217; meetings with the Congress president but it is not on the agenda.8217;8217;

Rajasthan Brahmin body
rejects Gehlot proposal

JODHPUR: Rajasthan Brahmin Mahasabha, spearheading for reservation of poor Brahmins under Other Backward Class category, today rejected the Gehlot government8217;s decision to allow quota in jobs for economically backward upper castes.
8216;8216;The Rajasthan government8217;s declaration is nothing but an attempt to befool the Brahmin community and was aimed at gaining political mileage during the election year,8217;8217; Mahasabha president Hastimal Saraswat said in a statement here.

Now it8217;s tricolour vs trident
DEHRA DUN: After Laloo Prasad Yadav8217;s lathi in Bihar, VHP8217;s trident will now face Congress party8217;s tricolour in Uttaranchal. Uttaranchal Congress has decided to take on the VHP trident distribution programme with a tricolour distribution campaign. Making this announcement, state Congress president Harish Rawat today alleged that the VHP wanted to vitiate social peace in the hill state before the approaching general elections. 8212;ENS

She also stresses that the conference would confine itself to the work done on the promises made in the manifestos of various states. Reservation up to 10 per cent to the economically backwards among the upper castes was a promise made in the party manifesto for 2002 UP elections.

Interestingly, senior party leaders were in the dark about the Rajasthan government8217;s decision on the reservation issue till as late as May 18, just a few days before the state Cabinet approved it.

That day, before entering a meeting of the election strategy committee at the AICC, Gehlot had said he was in favour of 10 to 15 per cent reservation based on economic status, keeping secure the quota given to SCs and STs. However, the issue was never discussed at that meeting headed by senior leader Manmohan Singh. Meanwhile, in his letter today, Gehlot said the Centre 8216;8216;must initiate a Constitutional amendment to give effect to the principle of reservation based on economic criteria for all sections of society not covered by reservation so far.8217;8217;

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8216;8216;This is a matter of importance for the entire body politic where caste prejudices are ingrained in the people8217;s psyche. I would urge you to initiate dialogue at the national level and take a policy decision after consulting various state governments,8217;8217; Gehlot said.

Now the Congress does not want the BJP to get away with the credit for appeasing the upper caste. But the party isn8217;t sure if issuing a statement on the Centre8217;s proposal for forming a commission wouldn8217;t further complicate the issue.

Senior party leaders point out that the Congress, being in power in 15 states, cannot risk playing up a move like this to such an extent that it gathers momentum in other states, especially in Madhya Pradesh.

In 1991, the Congress government headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao had proposed 10 per cent reservation for the poor upper caste which was struck down by the SC on legal grounds. Referring to Rao8217;s proposal, Gehlot in his letter to Vajpayee stated: 8216;8216;You will agree that many of our developmental programmes have already accepted the principle of targeting the economically deprived of the country.8217;8217;

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8216;8216;In this sense we have already accepted the need for targeting the economically deprived so that they can strive to attain higher levels of economic development,8217;8217; he added.