Congress tries to woo upper castes

New Delhi: In a bid to lure the upper caste the Congress manifesto which was released on Wednesday, promises of looking at the option of giving reservation on economic ground without distorting the current facilities provided to the OBCs, the SCs and the STs.

It is believed that this promise is an indication of Congress’ attempt to bring back to its fold the traditional upper caste support base. “Undoubtedly, BJP has played the OBC card in this election by projecting Mr Modi (an OBC) as its PM candidate. The BJP has also for long been a favourite of upper castes among Hindus. Thus, Congress had no option to play its upper castes card,” said an analyst.

However, in a bid to balance out its overtures to upper caste, the party in its manifesto also expressed its commitment “to create national consensus on affirmative action for SCs and STs in the private sector.”

Taking the caste card further to ensure that the present equilibrium does not get disturbed, the manifesto also promises to establish a special commission for the SCs, STs and OBCs to identify communities within each group, which have not benefited so far. It also promises to ensure that the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for SC and ST candidates will be extended to students belonging to Other Backward Classes.