Gujjars: Congress plays it safe

A cautious Congress today avoided being dragged into any controversy on the issue of Scheduled Tribe status for the Gujjars.

Apparently preferring to play it safe after the Rajasthan government referred the Chopra Committee report on the issue to the Central Government, Party spokesman Shakil Ahmed said: "We are yet to see the report. However, the Congress wants inclusive growth and there should not be any effort to create a further divide in society."

Privately, party leaders admit that in view of the sensitivity of the issue, trying to score points over the BJP might backfire. Rajasthan is slated for Assembly elections in middle of next year.

The Congress, hopeful of winning back the state from the BJP did not want to make any commitments on this issue.

According to a senior party functionary, "We will wait and watch. This is a very sensitive issue and this might open a pandora's box in other parts of the country."

However, a defensive Congress today criticised the BJP and its government in Rajasthan: "If they didn't know how the process works, why did the chief minister promise in election rallies that Gujjars would be given ST status?"

The Congress has planned to maintain a distance from the Chopra Committee report but to counter the BJP it will try to fault the terms of reference of the committee.