NEW DELHI: With the upper caste backlash over the government’s aggressive pro-Dalit measures roiling the politics, will BJP execute the radical measure of sub-categorisation of OBCs or prefer to procrastinate on the expert commission’s pending report? The question was uppermost on the minds of government insiders a day after the chairperson of the Commission tasked with drafting the sub-categorisation blueprint, Justice G Rohini, met Union minister Thavar Chand Gehlot.
Sources said the Commission was expected to submit an interim report on sub-categorisation to the ministry but has not done so. It is claimed that the commission has been asked to hold its report for the time being.
The interim report is apparently designed to invite public comments which can be incorporated in the final report to be submitted later.
It is learnt that the government wants to keep the issue in abeyance in the wake of upper castes coming out against the Centre’s decision to restore the SC/ST Atrocities Act which was diluted by the SC. The upper caste outfits are agitating in election-bound states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, forcing parties, primarily BJP, on the backfoot.
With stronger OBCs set to oppose sub-categorisation which would shrink their share in the reservation pie, the ruling camp is learnt to be mulling if it is worth the risk to open a Mandal front alongside the upper castes.
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