Naidu floats Mandal trial balloon

In a reversal of its role, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to do a VP Singh by championing the cause of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) on the eve of elections.

BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu has urged Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to relax the criteria for identifying "creamy layer", an affluent section of the OBC which was denied the job quota on the Supreme Court's instructions.

Naidu's demand has come barely a day after the Ram Surat Singh-headed National Commission for Backward Classes submitted its report to the government.

The panel was asked to review the criteria for "crea-my layers" and suggest nor-ms beneficial to the OBCs.

That the commission submitted its report on the eve of polls hints at the BJP strategy to play the Mandal card by advocating extending reservation benefits to the affluent sections of the OBCs.

Naidu said he had requested the Prime Minister to relax the norms and include a wider section of the OBCs into it. In a calculated move, Naidu has floated a trial balloon to elicit people's response on the issue. Given the sensibilities involved, the Prime Minister's response was kept a "guarded secret".

Sources in the government said given the history of the Mandal agitation and the subsequent social divide on forward-backward lines, the Prime Minister would be exercising caution.

But a section of BJP leaders feel the party's advocacy for relaxing the "creamy layer" norms will not evoke the kind of hostility the Mandal commission had evoked.

With the BJP retaining its upper caste base intact and Vajpayee as the Prime Minister, the strategy to co-opt the OBCs into the BJP's fold would succeed, said a leader.

Official sources said the backward panel's recommendations conformed to the demands made by the BJP, which was seeking to champion the cause of the OBCs and grab the political space left vacant by the collapse of the forces representing the Mandal politics.

Naidu's demand, which is expected to be backed by the backward commission's recommendation, is calculated to play the OBC card. With Kalyan Singh's rehabilitation in the BJP becoming a certainty, the move is aimed at winning over OBC's in UP and Bihar.

The panel in October 2003 had been asked to review the income criteria for excluding the creamy layer from among the OBCs and submit its report in three months.

The directive followed, the demand to raise the income ceiling for determining creamy layer, fixed 10 years ago on the Supreme Court's guidelines.

That the BJP has been formulating its strategy to put across the feel-good message to every section of the society is evident in today's strategy session at the Prime Minister's residence.

The meeting attended by Deputy Prime Minister PM LK Advani , Finance Minister Jaswant Singh , Naidu and chaired by Vajpayee outlined the areas where the party's organisation needs to be strengthened.

Naidu is learnt to have urged the Prime Minister to depute Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj for interacting with the press. Given Swaraj's popularity among women, the party seeks to utilise her charm to the best political advantage.

Similarly, the party leadership held a training programme for those responsible for handling the media all over the country and briefed them about using the media effectively during the elections. Naidu also held the meeting of party general secretaries to finalise the election strategy.

RSS in a dilemma

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up to harvest the feel-good factor in polls, the Rashtriya Sway-amsewak Sangh (RSS) constituents are not delighted.

To prevent the impact of the underlying tension between the BJP and San-gh constituents on polls, BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu today held a strategic session with RSS general secretary Mohan Bha-gwat and joint general secretary Madan Das Devi. Naidu, it is learnt, emphasised the need for a coordinated effort to win polls.

Though the RSS is keen to help the BJP in the polls, it asked the BJP to resolve the distrust and doubts with organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) by engaging them in a dialogue.

Addressing BJP media-managers, RSS spokesman Ram Madhav did not approve the manner in which the sentiments of the RSS were being ignored.

Madhav used the tagline of the "team India" ad""Aakhir hum bhi to hain team me (after all we are also in the team)""to articulate the Sangh's dilemma.