Upstaged by the Congress in Rajasthan over the upper-caste reservation issue, the BJP high command has decided to bide its time to respond to the development.Central party general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here today that BJP office-bearers, scheduled to meet at Jaipur on May 25, would examine the state government recommendation to the Centre to initiate steps to reserve 14 per cent jobs for the upper-caste poor.The party wishes to tread carefully, the upper castes being traditional supporters of the BJP. The Congress move has come ahead of the Assembly polls in four states.For the Congress too, it is a double-edged weapon. It may work to the advantage of the party in Rajasthan in a particular situation, but at the pan-India level, it may be an altogether different game. Faced with a tough competition from the BSP for the Dalit vote in several states, it has to gauge the response of weaker sections before committing its support to any action by the BJP to implement the recommendation of Rajasthan. Words alone would not do and the party will have to support a constitutional amendment to push through a legislation in Parliament for the reservations above the 50 per cent ceiling.
