India, Jan. 26 -- The Mandal-Mandir politics of the early 1990s is back as the Opposition uses caste and quota to neutralise the Sanatan narrative in the country including in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the nerve centre of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Hindutva campaign.

Ironically, the lower castes are also torn between religious sentiments and the quest for "roti kapda makan", which is the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare schemes.

To recall, it was in August 1990 that the National Front government led by Vishwanath Pratap Singh announced implementation of the Mandal Commission report, granting 27% quota for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) amid growing chants of "Jai Shri Ram" as the Ayodhya temple movement was reaching pe...