Undeterred by the raps he received from the party, Union minister of state for home Ajay Maken, who is an MP from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, is all set to write another letter. But this time he will be writing to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, urging her to give party men a clear line on the issue of caste census.
Confirming that the minister is drafting another letter addressed to Mrs Gandhi, sources said in the letter he will urge the Congress president to make the party line clear over the issue. “At the moment it’s a peculiar situation in which those who are airing their view in public supporting caste census (read law minister Veerappa Moily) are not being rapped by the party. But he has been suggested to speak within the party and the government,” the sources said.
Justifying his argument, Mr Maken is also expected to mention the fact that even on the floor of the Lok Sabha, during the debate over the issue, the Congress members were allowed to speak their individual minds, as no clear party line was given for the participants.
Even as the Congress disapproved of Mr Maken writing a letter to young MPs asking them to oppose inclusion of caste in census, many in the party circle believe that the junior minister could not have done this on his own. Hinting that Mr Maken might have the blessings of home minister P. Chidambaram for shooting off letters to young MPs, a senior party functionary, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Home minister P. Chidambram’s views on the issue is well known.” He, however, did not rule out the possibility of Mr Maken having support from a senior Congress leader also.
“It suits him to air such a view on the politically sensitive issue as this goes down well with his constituency. Delhi has always been the fulcrum of all anti-reservation movements — be it Mandal movement in the early 90s or the anti-reservation movement during UPA 1. Through this he wants to widen his acceptability in Delhi politics,” a party leader said.