After the recent students’ protest over the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s now-stayed equity regulations led to alleged violence, accusations of molestation and filing of FIRs, the Delhi University (DU) on Tuesday banned all protests and demonstrations across the campus for a month until March 16, when the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear petitions on the UGC rules against caste-based discrimination.
The DU’s decision follows protests on February 13 at the Arts Faculty, where students were demanding the full implementation of the UGC regulations aimed at addressing caste-based discrimination in higher education. That protest spiralled into confrontation, with the Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association (AISA) alleging targeted threats against its activists, while a YouTuber accused some protesters of assault and molestation. The Delhi Police later said cross-complaints had been received and FIRs registered.
On January 30, two weeks after the regulatory body for higher education notified the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, the apex court stayed it, observing that they raise important questions which, if left unexamined, could have “very sweeping consequences” and “divide society”.
The DU’s attempt to put a lid on the UGC row comes at a time when the ruling BJP faces a different kind of challenge after almost 12 years in power at the Centre – how to balance the party’s continued bid to widen its support base across the Hindu social spectrum while ensuring that its core upper caste base does not get alienated.
A faculty member in a DU college, who was an activist of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) as a student, told The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity, “There is a palpable divide on campus over the matter, particularly after the latest clash, and the Supreme Court stay as well as changing news cycle have not been able to bury the matter. The Left organisations are continuing to mobilise on the issue despite the court stay.”
Since the 1990s, as the BJP preferred by the upper-caste communities in northern, western and central India – with wide sections of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) choosing either the Congress or regional parties – the former began to expand its outreach to OBCs and Dalits over the last 12 years with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm.
This was done through multiple strategies. First, the BJP began to give higher representation to OBCs, both in candidate lists for elections and ministerial positions, accommodating more backward class faces without ignoring its upper caste core.
For instance, in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the representation of the OBC Kurmis increased from 11% to 28% of the OBC MLAs elected, as per figures from the Trivedi Centre for Political Data at Ashoka University. But upper caste representation also rose, reaching a record high of 44% of all MLAs for the first time in 1980.
This apart, the Centre also named Dalits, tribals and OBCs to top constitutional posts, including as the President and the Vice-President.
Secondly, the BJP succeeded in linking its traditional Hindutva issues to caste optics. Since the days of the Jana Sangh, the BJP’s predecessor, if Article 370 was projected as a sign of Jammu and Kashmir not being fully integrated with the nation, this framing was slightly tweaked by the BJP after its abrogation in 2019. In the run-up to the 2024 J&K Assembly elections, the BJP claimed the abrogation of Article 370 ushered in social justice in the erstwhile state. “The Modi government ended years of discrimination against Dalits, tribals, Pahadis, and backward communities by granting them reservations after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said at a rally.
Before the 2024 Jharkhand Assembly elections, the BJP had accused the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government of “sheltering illegal immigrants from Bangladesh for its vote bank politics”, alleging that it threatened the state’s tribal population.
By bringing the SCs of J&K and STs of Jharkhand into the discourse, the BJP has expanded the stance of its ideological parent, the RSS, which has for long been raising the issue of “changing demographics”, particularly in border states.
Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerji repeatedly spoke against Article 370, arguing “two flags, two Constitutions and two PMs” could not be allowed in one country. The introduction of a social justice angle has since helped the BJP articulate its core Hindutva concerns within a framework of caste.
“The BJP’s Ram Temple, Article 370 and other issues were basically an expression of cultural nationalism and its belief in the idea of one nation, one culture and one people. However, the Opposition continued to come out with strategies to counter it. The first strategy of the Congress since about 1990 – harping on the majority-minority faultline – gradually backfired, as there was majority consolidation in favour of the BJP. So, the Congress has recently decided to counter the BJP’s Hindutva cultural nationalism by playing on the caste faultline. The BJP has answered this by putting its core agendas within a caste framework, which I think is an intelligent move,” Seshadri Chari, former editor of RSS-linked magazine The Organiser, had told The Indian Express in December 2024.
However, the sense in the Sangh Parivar is that the UGC regulations have put the government in a quandary, as social justice is once more raising its head as a “forward vs backward” issue, which can threaten the wide social combination that the BJP had put in place over the last decade.
Multiple voices in the ABVP told The Indian Express that there was a fear that the UGC guidelines could make the upper castes feel alienated. “Even some of the pro-Hindutva influencers, like author Anand Ranganathan, have been critical of the BJP on this count. The Congress’s criticism does not matter that much, but such voices are taken seriously by common middle class supporters of the BJP and the Sangh,” an ABVP insider said on the condition of anonymity.
“The ABVP had welcomed the Supreme Court stay on the UGC equity regulations, as some words were unclear. The groups to be protected need protection. At the same time, other groups should not fear any misuse of the regulations. The ABVP believes that every section of society should be harmoniously addressed together,” said ABVP national organising secretary Ashish Chauhan.
As of now, the BJP dispensation seems to be trying to play it safe on the matter. When the protests erupted against the UGC rules – which are more stringent than its previous 2012 guidelines in scope, and included the OBCs, and not just the SCs and STs among groups that may face discrimination – Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that none would be allowed to misuse the regulations to target anyone, though the rules have no provision of action being instituted against anyone for filing a false complaint.