Constituents of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are up in arms against the Supreme Court interim stay on OBC reservation in higher educational institutions and a meeting of alliance leaders is likely to take stock of the situation.

Allies have been unhappy with the Congress equivocation on judicial intervention in quota laws, and today’s order will escalate that tension. Meanwhile, Union HRD minister Arjun Singh who has been championing the OBC reservation is busy again exploring the legal routes to get around the impasse and has given enough indications that the “political will” is to avoid “further delay” in implementing OBC reservation.

The Congress, as usual, is adapting a middle-path on the sensitive issue but other UPA partners are not taking it lightly. DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan, former PM V P Singh, Sharad Pawar and leaders of all Left parties have reacted sharply to the court order. UPA partners LJP and PMK have even announced protest marches in Delhi on Friday. RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, however, has chosen to remain silent.

Congress said the court order is “an interim arrangement,” and does not indict the government policy of reservations. “This is an interim arrangement till the next hearing. The court is seeing a better factual foundation for reservations, “ Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

In recent months, the political class — particularly the social justice votaries in the UPA — have protested against other SC orders related to reservation. The SC had recently brought the Ninth Schedule under the ambit of judicial review. Dozens of reservation laws are kept in the schedule, which used to be beyond judicial scrutiny, but now many of it will be challenged in court. UPA partners, most vocally the Tamil allies DMK and PMK, wanted a legislative intervention to overturn the SC order. Then too, the Congress had defused the situation by promising to take a view on the issue after due examination. Political parties have also criticised recent SC interventions insisting on excluding creamy layer from the ambit of reservations.

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