Hyderabad, April 03: Even after Supreme Court’s green signal last week to 4% quota for Muslims in jobs and education in Andhra Pradesh, Congress remains cautious about minority quotas as it closely considers the political cost-benefits of such gambits at the Centre.
Barring BJP, most political parties have been quick to welcome the SC order staying the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision to strike down the quota and Muslims groups were quick to see this as a big step forward. But with UPA-1 having wrestled with OBC quotas, Congress may prefer to wait and watch.
Congress seems to feel that the SC decision needs some time to sink in and will have the effect of making such a quota appear less radical over time. With Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal also implementing or having announced such quotas, the taboo of religion-based reservations — though the AP government has listed backward groups — can wear off. But in the meanwhile, it might be better to wait for more states to follow the Andhra model.
The constitutional validity of the Andhra reservation is still to be settled and Congress would not like to rush matters at a time when it does not seem under undue pressure to travel an extra mile to woo minority votes. There are some leaders in the party who would not mind an aggressive move to tap minority support, but they remain limited.
As Congress’s positioning ahead of the 2012 UP elections shows, it is prepared to take up issues like special courts for those accused in the Indian Mujahideen terror attacks even though the leadership has resolutely ruled out any judicial inquiry. Political pressures in the heat generated by a crucial electoral battle can see parties engage in competitive bids for vote banks, but this is still some time away.
Likelihood of minority quotas resulting in a backlash is also a possibility Congress would not like to discount altogether even though BJP’s attempts to make political capital on such issues have not been too successful of late. The main Opposition party is capable of attacking minority quotas head-on but is yet to shake off effects of a prolonged power struggle and has not quite got it policy focus in place as yet.
Still, Congress cannot keep hoping for a comatose Opposition and quota moves are complicated by demands that recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra commission like SC status to “dalit” Muslims and Christians be accepted. The Congress leadership is instinctively wary of the Mishra Commission’s recommendations that some see can give BJP an opening while sharpening caste and communal faultlines.
The quota politics are also seen to be limited by the 50% cap on reservations which means that adding more to the list or carving sub-quotas would reduce someone’s share. This is a powerful reason why despite quotas looking like an easy option, the political class is treading a careful path on the apex court’s go ahead to Muslim reservation in jobs and education.
–Agencies