UGC equity regulations: Why BJP is in a quandary

As the Union government moves to revisit the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) 2026 equity regulations, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself in a quandary. The Scheduled Caste (SC), ST (Scheduled Tribe) and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities back the stringent safeguards against caste-based discrimination. Upper castes, the BJP’s core voter base, have sought protection against the potential misuse of these provisions.Upper castes, the BJP’s core voter base, have sought protection against the potential misuse of the regulations.On Thursday, the government, which faced backlash from the upper castes over the regulations that were put in abeyance, told the Supreme Court it will set up a committee to revisit them. The issue is expected to be front and centre of the next round of state polls, including in Uttar Pradesh, where caste is a key electoral issue.The BJP hopes that the announcement about revisiting the regulations will placate the upper castes. BJP leaders said it is equally concerned that the announcement should not have any adverse impact on its outreach towards the marginalised castes.In a post on X, BJP’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Vinod Tawde cited the Supreme Court hearing and the Central government’s plan to constitute a panel on the regulations. He said the plan will ensure that no discrimination occurs against students of any category due to its imbalances.The BJP’s social engineering formula of giving representation to marginalised sections has been expanding its voter base. A BJP leader said the party can neither afford the upper castes to move away nor do without the support of the OBCs.Upper castes are estimated to be about 22% of the electorate in Uttar Pradesh and OBCs 43%. The SCs account for 21%, and the STs 0.5%. In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP returned to power for a second time in 2022, covets the votes of OBCs, who were included in the protection under the 2026 UGC regulations.“The earlier regulation [2012] was limited to SC and ST students. The 2026 regulation included the OBCs. While there was no objection to expanding the scope of the rules, doing away with the provision for penalties or disciplinary action in cases of false complaints of discrimination set off concerns… And now it has become a political hot potato,” said the leader quoted above.The BJP is treading cautiously as it does not want a repeat of the losses it faced in the Bankipur (Bihar) and Datia (Madhya Pradesh) assembly by-polls in August. The losses were partly attributed to the anger among upper castes.A second BJP leader said the Opposition managed to create fear through their false narrative that the party wanted a brute majority to change the Constitution and do away with caste- based reservation during the 2024 national polls.The Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance won 43 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh and polled 43.52% of the votes in the 2024 polls. The BJP’s seats fell from 62 in 2019 to 33, dropping its overall tally below the majority mark in Parliament for the first time since 2014.The second BJP leader said that by the time of the by-polls, UGC regulations had alienated the upper castes. “It is a challenging situation to balance both sides.”The BJP’s ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), relayed its concerns to the BJP about the impact of the regulations following feedback from the ground.The issue was discussed at RSS’s gathering in Indore this week. Sunil Ambekar, RSS’s chief spokesperson, said that the guidelines were imbalanced. He said the government should ensure that any changes or decisions concerning the rules maintain fairness and social harmony.“The Sangh has made its position clear that the UGC circular was imbalanced. This concern was brought to the attention of the authorities, and both the government and the UGC took note of it. The [Supreme] Court has also put the regulations on hold, and the matter is currently sub judice,” Ambekar said.The Opposition has cocked a snook at the BJP. In a post on X, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the government’s response seems to stem from concerns about the polls. “Fearing the results of the Uttar Pradesh elections, this argument is now being presented in the Supreme Court on behalf of the government: until now, they had been sitting silently, ready to implement the guidelines, and even after the Supreme Court stayed it, they took so much time just to say that a committee would be formed…”In 2018, the amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (SC/ST Act) reintroducing the bar on anticipatory bail angered the upper castes. The move undid a Supreme Court judgment, which introduced safeguards in response to allegations of abuse of the SC/SC Act.A bandh in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, which led to clashes and casualties, prompted the amendment.Upper caste protesters demanded restoration of the Supreme Court judgment that watered down the SC/ST Act. The court had said the SC/ST Act was being misused while hearing a case from Maharashtra.