New Delhi: The quota row has finally reached the doors of Rashtrapati Bhawan. A delegation of anti-reservation students on Wednesday requested President A P J Abdul Kalam not to sign on the enabling law to reserve 27 per cent seats for the OBC students.
"We have said that if this law is enacted, we will commit suicide after seeking permission from the President," said Kapil Mishra, a student.
The President asked the students to call off their strike. The striking students, however, remained determined to continue despite dwindling support from the political class.
Quota being a politically-sensitive issue, no political party is ready to be seen as opposing the reservation policy. Even those few voices of dissent seem to have now fallen in line once the government has made its intentions clear to implement 27 per cent reservations in higher education institutes.
Union ministers like Kapil Sibal, who had initially been making dissenting noises against increasing caste-based reservations, seemed to be changing track now.
"This is consistent with what our national policy has been throughout -- economic growth with equity," Sibal said.
Meanwhile, the BJP, which claims to have a substantial vote base among the urban middle class, still remains confused on the issue.
"If there is a move by the government after a Constitution amendment, which promotes social justice, the BJP would be for it. But while doing that, the government should see to it that excellence of educational institutions is not compromised with," BJP leader Arun Jaitley insists.
(With Sandeep Banerjee)
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