Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Tuesday sought to play down the division within the party on the controversial quota issue asserting that the party was united in its stand."There is no controversy. The national executive has endorsed whatever I said on Monday," Singh told reporters when asked about the divergent views aired by delegates on the second day of the party national executive meeting.
He dismissed as "wrong and baseless" reports of divisions in the party over the issue.
Reservation Ruckus
Some Other Backward Classes' leaders in the party, including Vinay Katiyar, Thawar Chand Gehlot and Satya [Images] Narayan Jatia, also backed the party chief's view and said while supporting reservation for OBCs, the poor among the upper class should also get quota benefits.
Earlier in the day, party leaders including Bangaru Dattatreya, Sushil Modi and Gopinath Munde had asked the party to come clear on the reservation issue to remove confusion among party cadres.
However, party leaders including Arun Shourie, S S Ahluwalia and Kalraj Mishra are understood to have questioned the very rationale behind reservation as it exists today.
It was finally Gujarat Chierf Minister Narendra Modi [Images] who stressed on the importance of the party taking a balanced view on the issue and said the Congres has already burnt its hands on the issue and the BJP should not do the same.
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