Addressing a joint press conference with Gurjjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla in Jaipur, Vasundhara Raje said the five per cent quota for Gurjjars, Rebaris and Banjaras “would not have any adverse effect on the present reservation system in the state”. This was clearly to allay apprehensions of the influential Meena community which enjoys ST status but doesn’t want it accorded to the Gurjjars. She said “there is a necessity to give special support to some sections”.

Calling Vasundhara Raje an “able administrator”, Bainsla said: “We are thankful to the Chief Minister. We have got our rights today. Now it is for the Centre not to delay.” He said the agitation would be called off once he reaches Pilupura in Bharatpur district.

Soon after resolving the Gurjjar issue, Vasundhara Raje addressed a separate press meet to announce reservation for the poor among the upper castes, based on a report submitted today by the Economically Backward Classes Commission. The speed with which the report was accepted by the government suggested that the BJP wanted to rule out any upper caste backlash to the quota for Gurjjars.

In the past, almost every political party, Vasundhara Raje said, promised reservation for the poor among upper castes but it was never fulfilled. A cabinet meeting would take up the report tomorrow and consider its implementation at the earliest, she said.

While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was the first to demand a quota for the upper caste poor — it was seconded by BJP’s L K Advani — the Vasundhara Raje government has become the first to have such a policy in place. But this raises more questions than anything else.

For one, will the new measure pass muster with the Supreme Court having fixed the 50 per cent ceiling for quotas in government jobs? “The SC had said that state governments can exceed the 50 per cent slab under special circumstances, but the court must be convinced by those arguments,” said a close aide of Vasundhara Raje. There are also fears that this will prompt other states to make similar demands.