The Hindu : National : Quota: BJP meet endorses Rajnath stand

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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

National

National

Quota: BJP meet endorses Rajnath stand

Special Correspondent

Differing voices heard at executive

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party was clearly divided on the issue of reservation for OBCs in Central educational institutions — leaders of the backward castes and other socially deprived sections wanted the BJP to give a clear signal that it supported a quota for the backward castes, while others, including many "forward" caste leaders, felt that there was need for a more cautious approach.

At the end of the two-day national executive committee meeting of the BJP here on Tuesday, it was the official line spelt out by party president Rajnath Singh in his opening address on Monday that was adopted unanimously. The party supported reservation for the backward classes; it wanted the "most deprived among the socially deprived sections," to benefit, thus indicating its support for keeping out of the quota benefit the "creamy layer" among the backwards; it also wanted the benefit of reservation for the "economically weaker sections of the upper castes, pointing out that in the months before the 2004 Lok Sabha election a Commission to look into this was appointed by the Vajpayee Government; it opposed any reservation on the basis of religion and exclusion of minority institutions from the obligation of providing a quota for the socially deprived.

Hardly any difference

Except for its demand for a quota for the poor among the forward castes, there was not much to distinguish the party's stand from that of the Government, except that the BJP was critical of the manner in which the Government had handled the issue. The party pointed a finger at the Ministry of Human Resource Development for following an "unabashedly political" agenda, instead of expanding the pursuit of excellence in education.

The six-page resolution adopted virtually reiterated the stand taken by the party president.

It criticised the United Progressive Alliance for allowing the Left to exercise a "veto power"; it lamented the weakening of the Prime Minister's position and authority; and it charged the Prime Minister with "blocking" the constitutional process from taking its course on the complaint against Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.

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