Bracing for Modi's OBC card, will UPA announce Jat quota?

Though BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has yet not played the caste card, despite hailing from an OBC background, it might not be too long before he uses the same as the election race hots up. The Congress, possibly rattled by Modi’s fairly successful use of their own ‘secular’ card, is now trying to make sure that they have suitably prepared for any other move that the BJP is likely to make. In an exclusive report, The Indian Express says that the UPA is now planning to announce reservations for Jats in the OBC quota for government jobs. [caption id=“attachment_1209721” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. Agencies.[/caption] While it is not clear if the announcement will be made prior to the Delhi Assembly elections, the report suggests that the government might not delay it for long. A Congress strategist tells The Indian Express reporter:

“While Muslim voters will be split (between Congress and regional parties), we have to think of how we can rope in some big group to supplement the party’s somewhat fractured traditional support base,” a Congress strategist told The Indian Express.

Incidentally, the Prime Minister had set up a GoM to discuss the Jat quota issue as late as August this year. Another IE report notes:

“Finance Minister P Chidambaram will head the GoM with Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kumari Selja and Minister of State in charge of Personnel V Narayansamy as members.The GoM will expedite the issue, according to a government note which underlines the need for early action.”

Read the complete report on IE here.