With eyes on assembly elections that are barely five months away, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje has bought peace with agitating Gurjars by floating a complicated reservation formula.
Gurjars divided over complex formula, ball in Centre’s court again
- Rajasthan govt announces 5% reservation for Gurjars
- Proposes another 14% quota for poor among upper castes
- If implemented, quotas in Rajasthan will add up to 68%
NEW DELHI: With eyes on assembly elections that are barely five months away, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has bought peace with agitating Gurjars by floating a complicated reservation formula. But she may have ended up creating fresh political, legal and Constitutional headaches for herself rather than resolving the problem.
In the final agreement hammered out in Jaipur on Wednesday, Raje has ordered 5% reservation for Gurjars over and above the existing 49.5% quotas for SC/ST and OBCs. She has also recommended another 14% quota for the economically backward sections among the upper castes. This proposal has been lobbed to the central government, which is supposed to take the final decision.
In effect, Raje has sent Rajasthan the Tamil Nadu way with a 68% quota though the Supreme Court put a cap on reservations at 50%. It remains to be seen whether the move will stand legal and constitutional scrutiny.
Also, there were murmurs of dissent from within the Gurjar community and OBC-dominated political parties like the Janata Dal (U) which felt that the CM has played a “trick” by coming out with a formula that is not sustainable.
Raje, of course, needed time out from the continuing agitation by the Gurjars that had brought life and business to a standstill in parts of Rajasthan for the past several weeks. What she has sought to do is to strike a caste balance. She has preserved existing quotas for Jats and Meenas and ordered a separate quota for the Gurjars.
Interestingly, the Centre, which is supposed to be the final arbiter in such issues, was silent. There was no reaction from the Congress either, which seems to be caught in a caste pincer, not wanting to antagonise any community on the eve of polls. Party spok-esperson Jayanthi Natarajan said the Congress was studying the formula.
What political gain this move would accrue to the ruling BJP will only be known after the elections. Given the mood among the Gurjars, she has definitely succeeded in creating fissures within the community.
This was clear from the manner in which some Gurjar leaders dissociated themselves from the final round of talks on Wednesday.
Senior Gurjar leader from Delhi Ramvir Singh Bidhuri boycotted the final round of talks and refused to sign the agreement. He had earlier participated in five rounds of negotiations. “Raje government has gone back from the points agreed in the preliminary meetings, which included granting five per cent reservation to Gurjars from the OBC quota to insulate it from legal hassles. The new formula will not stand legal and Constitutional scrutiny. I hope the state government and the BJP sees reason,” he said.
Janata Dal (U), which has been championing the OBCs' cause, said the decision has been taken in haste by the Raje government. “It is bound to be struck down by the court. Reservation needs to be given within the listed categories of SC/ST/OBCs and not to castes and tribes separately,” said party MP Ali Anwar said.
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