The Capital may have heaved a sigh of relief at the departure of a chief minister identified with a period of crises ... His special constituency ... made it clear that his dethronement would be deemed a wanton affront by the Jat community. And not just in Delhi, as Haryana's till now Centre-friendly Om Prakash Chautala voiced displeasure ... The announced offer of a Cabinet post to Verma has not ended the controversy, but only exacerbated it. It has ... provoked demands for a similar deal from other caste groups in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Particularly notable has been the claim from the trading community ... This group now feels politically threatened after the dropping of Rajendra Gupta ... it is an eloquent commentary on the state of affairs that this should be happening inside the BJP ... It is ... a well-established practice for pundits to analyse the caste composition, among other things, of a council of ministers and assess the prospects of the government's stability and success accordingly. Caste claims and counter-claims have always dictated how many a prime minister or chief minister chose his team. An accident of birth has been the main qualification for many an ambitious politician including those who have argued for merit in the Mandal debate ...

The caste factor shows no sign of weakening at all in the foreseeable future. Nor does the dynamics of coalition politics discourage the political use of this divisive feature ...