Political passions

Ranged on one side is the Union HRD minister Arjun Singh who was aware that his party could ill-afford to oppose the logic of affirmative action at its own peril. On the other side, is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who preferred balancing merit with social equity. This struggle continues to be played out on TV channels as the Congress desperately seeks new allies beyond its upper-caste base to remain relevant as a national political formation. How this power struggle plays itself out bears watching in the months ahead

A Special Correspondent Delhi

Just couple of weeks before the results to the elections to five federal units were announced, there were angry murmurs emanating from the supporters of Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh. They were angry over the manner in which the Election Commission (EC) had chosen to issue a notice to their leader for announcing reservations for other backward castes (OBCs) in higher educational institutions even when the electoral process was on. The EC contended that Arjun Singh’s announcement was violative of the code of conduct as it could influence the voting in the areas where the elections were to take place. What really upset the HRD minister and his supporters further was the way in which the Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal earlier considered to be close to the HRD minister, criticised the reservation proposal by insisting that precedence should be given to merit. “We know who is behind the attack against Arjun Singh and EC’s pro-activism,” claimed a confidante of the HRD minister. “Let the results of the assembly elections be declared and then we will see.”

Arjun Singh’s reply to EC was unrepentant. Expectedly, the commission was not satisfied by his response and claimed that the HRD minister had indeed violated the code of conduct. HRD minister was unfazed even as he became bugbear of a middle class that has begun to take cues for its political response from the television news channels that try to keep alive the spirit of the film  Rang De Basanti. The corrupt Defence Minister of the silver screen transmogrifies into the figure of Arjun Singh in real life and drama gave energy to the spreading protests. Doctors, interns, engineers, students, traders, joined the swelling ranks of demonstrators. Cries of “do not try to divide India” accompanied very casteist displays of politics. An invisible hand drove the Indian middle class to show its position. It worked the channels, took the pictures and wrote the columns. Quota supporters allege that the agitation had official blessings. It was as if the intense power struggle going on within the Congress, if not the entire United Progressive Alliance (UPA) moved into the public through the electronic and print media, and thereon on to the streets of urban India.

Backstage, charges flew, with accusations being levelled even at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for masterminding the opposition to reservations. Even the trenchant comments of industrialist Ratan Tata, who heads the PM’s advisory committee on industry, were ascribed to the PMO.

Arjun Singh and his supporters strategically leveraged the quota issue to build strong alliances with the UPA allies and broaden Congress’s social constituency, rescuing it from its upper-caste stranglehold. It is not known whether this stroke was of Arjun Singh’s own volition or if were the outcome of a Congress leadership decision. From media reports it would appear that the prime minister was not consulted by the HRD ministry on this move to bring in reservations in the higher educational institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and post-doctoral courses in medicine.