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NEW DELHI: Congress committed itself to reservation for the poor among the upper castes even as it asked why the Modi government had brought it in the last few months of its term. The Mandal outfits may use the issue to paint BJP as “anti-backward” by demanding that the caste census be made public.

AICC spokesman Randeep Surjewala said, “We have always said those who are genuinely poor and not covered under SC/ST/OBC may be given benefit of reservation.” Asked if Congress would support the quota bill in Parliament, he said: “The son or daughter of a person who is poor should get their share in education and jobs. We will support all steps for this.”

While Congress appeared to tread a soft line, Mandal outfits seemed to be gearing up to paint the Modi government as “anti-backward”.

RJD’s Manoj Jha said, “The government should’ve gone for a ‘Constituent Assembly’ kind of debate. It should have published caste census data. This abrupt decision has been taken only to manage the headlines for two-three days.”

Manoj Jha, RJD MP from Bihar, was referring to OBC population details collected through SECC which have been junked by the Modi regime. The intent appears to be to consolidate the OBC base of Lalu Prasad’s outfit by painting the BJP regime as biased towards forward communities. It is a gambit — forwards vs vackwards — that the Mandalite outfits see as paying.

SP spokesman Udaiveer Singh said, “They first talked about reservation for most backwards, then came the temple, and now they are talking about reservation for upper castes. We are not against it but we demand the Centre must first release the caste census and then offer quota proportionate to each caste’s population.”

Congress asked why the Centre waited for 100 days before polls for the move. “When will PM give jobs in addition to giving reservation in jobs.”

