Another Cong quota googly in UP-ToI-10.1.12

Party Pledges 9% Sub-quota For Backward Muslims in Uttar Pradesh Government Jobs If Elected To Power

Delhi/Farrukhabad: Union law minister Salman Khurshid on Monday announced the Congress would provide 9% sub-quota to backward Muslims in UP government jobs if voted to power in the state, stepping harder on quota politics that the UPA set rolling by carving out 4.5% minority reservation within the central OBC category. 
    Addressing meetings for his wife, Congress candidate from Farukkhabad Louise, Khurshid said the Congress government in the state would give exclusive 9% reservation to Muslims in the OBC list. Sources confirmed that the promise of approximately 9% quota for Muslim OBCs will be among the highlights of the party’s manifesto. 
    The promise of a new sub-quota, double of what it gave at the Centre in December, is set to sharpen the rush for Muslim votes in UP polls and press the SP and the BSP hard for a counter after they dismissed UPA’s 4.5% move as tokenism. 
    The ‘Muslim quota’ politics appeared a planned Congress strategy to trap the rivals. Barely had Khurshid dropped the 9%bomb that the party’s lead campaigner Rahul Gandhi challenged Mulayam Singh Yadav to promise 18% quota in the SP manifesto as he had demanded while protesting the Centre’s 4.5% decision. “Mulayam should answer whether or not he will provide 18% quota to Muslims in government jobs… Will he include this provision in his manifesto?” Rahul asked in Gorakhpur. The challenge from the Congress heir apparent may only see the pitch turn shriller in the days closer to the seven-phase polls. 
    The opposition would be wary of the challenge which is a double-edged sword because of divergence in intra-backward interests. Though Mulayam cannot oppose the Muslim quota, he is unlikely to play the Congress game of categorizing OBCs since it would rile his vote-base of Yadavs and Kurmis — the “forwards among backwards” are seen as monopolizing the 27% Mandal reservation while the sub-quotas for Muslims would reduce their catchment area in jobs and education. SP’s aggressive “Muslim politics”, while riling its core base, would position the Congress better among the ‘most backwards’ whom it is promising a sub-quota on the lines of Muslims. Congress’s allout wooing of Muslims is also a challenge to the BSP which is eager to maintain its “dalit-plus” character post-2007. 
    While the rising sub-quota pitch of the Congress has riled the “forward among backwards”, the party has appeared comfortable with its possible fallout. Sources said the agitated groups were not Congress voters and their reaction would damage the SP. The nonchalance over OBC reaction was evident when, as reported by TOI, UP election campaign chief Sriprakash Jaiswal said that ‘Muslim sub-quota’ at the Centre was poised for a hike after the ongoing caste census.RESERVING SUPPORT Muslims | 18% of UP populationOBC Muslims | 80% of the community 
Congress | 9% 
sub-quota to Muslims 
out of 27% OBC quota pie 
Congress to bring eight more Muslim castes in the UP OBC list 
Quota share of Yadavs, Kurmis, Jats would be hit