The Supreme Court's decision on Thursday to stay the University Grants Commission’s new equity regulations has proved to be a bittersweet development for the BJP, exposing internal unease amid a sharp backlash from its core upper-caste support base.

While the stay came as a relief for a party grappling with growing anger among upper-caste groups across the heartland states, it was also viewed as a setback for the Narendra Modi government, which had firmly defended the regulations.

The discomfort within the party's command structure was reflected in a post by Union textiles minister Giriraj Singh, who initially welcomed the apex court's order by describing the UGC regulations as "Sanatan ko baatne wala (one that creates divisions in Sanatan dharma)". Singh later deleted the post and wrote a fresh message thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for the Supreme Court’s intervention.

“Heartfelt gratitude to the Supreme Court for imposing a stay on the UGC rules that were dividing Sanatan (dharma). This decision is important to protect India’s cultural unity and Sanatan values,” Singh had posted, adding that the Modi government’s identity lay in “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” and the “indestructible unity of Sanatan dharma”. The post was taken down more than an hour later.

In the fresh post, Singh said: “Heartfelt thanks to the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and the Honourable Home Minister Shri Amit Shah ji. The stay imposed by the Honourable Supreme Court on the UGC regulations has provided significant relief to the country’s students, teachers and educational institutions.

“The identity of the Modi government is ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ along with unity, justice, balance and the steadfast protection of constitutional values,” the post added.

Singh’s praise for the Supreme Court’s stay on the UGC equity regulations was widely seen as a setback for the Modi government, coming just two days after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had strongly defended the new guidelines amid protests by upper-caste students and organisations.

“I want to very humbly clarify that no one will be discriminated against or oppressed by the new UGC rules. The law will not be misused by anyone. Whether it is the UGC, the central government or state governments, it will be our responsibility to ensure it is not misused,” Pradhan had said on Tuesday, signalling that the top leadership was in favour of the regulations.

Party insiders pointed to the contrasting caste identities of the two ministers to explain their divergent responses. Singh, who hails from Bihar, belongs to the upper-caste Bhumihar community, while Pradhan is an OBC leader from Odisha. Pradhan offered no reaction after the apex court’s order on Thursday.

“The UGC regulations virtually divided the party on caste lines, but very few dared to speak out, given the party’s command structure. This could cost us dearly in the Uttar Pradesh elections next year,” said a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh.

The guidelines appeared to have backfired, triggering protests by general category students who alleged that the rules were discriminatory against them.