With the recent order of the Kerala High Court scrapping an 80:20 reservation norm being following by Kerala for scholarships to Muslim and Christian minority community members putting the Kerala government in a tight spot, the Left front government seems to be opting for a consensus strategy to wriggle out of the row.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan convened an all-party meeting on the matter on Friday and decided to seek legal opinion as well as to constitute an expert committee to look into the matter.
According to an official statement, the chief minister said at the meeting that the government would prefer to have a consensus on the matter.
Further meetings would be held with all political parties before taking a decision on the matter, he said.
The issue has put the government in a tight spot as various Christian forums welcomed the HC order and demanded that it should be implemented, while various Muslim outfits urged the government to file an appeal.
Even coalition partners in the Left front like the Kerala Congress (M) and Indian National League that generally represents the Christian and Muslim vote banks respectively were also having different opinions on the matter. Hence the Left front was making a very cautious move on the matter, sources in the government said.
The higher reservation to the Muslim community was given considering various studies that pointed out the backwardness of the community in education.