LUCKNOW, Jan. 30 -- Even as the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, saying they raise several important questions which, if not addressed, will have "very sweeping consequences.will divide the society", a section of leaders within the ruling BJP is unnerved after the new UGC rules came into public domain. "The union government should have got the new UGC rules vetted before releasing them into public domain. The government failed to judge its repercussions," said a senior leader of the BJP's state unit. "In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a dubious campaign by the opposition targeting BJP on the issue of reservation cost the party heavily. Now, the new UGC guidelines have put the party on the back foot again," he added. There is unease among upper caste BJP leaders after the state was rocked by the students' protest against UGC rules. "No BJP leader is coming out openly against the new rules, but they are wary of its consequences," said a BJP leader. "SC and OBC votes drifted towards the opposition after a dubious campaign by the opposition that the BJP will scrap reservation, if it comes to power. Now, this new (UGC rules) issue has once again put us on the back foot," he added. "In 2024, we had to face the wrath of SCs and OBCs. Now, we will have to face the consequences of upper castes' anger," he asserted. During the winter session of UP assembly in December, about 40 Brahmin MLAs and MLCs had informally assembled in Lucknow over a dinner hosted by the party's Kushinagar MLA. These leaders have since maintained stoic silence after being reprimanded by state BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary. This meeting was preceded by a talk about a gathering in Lucknow by members of the Thakur community. In the backdrop of these caste group meetings, UGC regulations have unnerved a section of BJP leaders. Meanwhile, protests against UGC rules in higher education institutions reached the doorsteps of BJP leaders in the form of posters on Thursday. NSUI activist, Aryan Mishra, put up posters outside the residences of deputy CM Brajesh Pathak and former deputy CM Dinesh Sharma. Former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said: "The SC's decision is a positive step," he told media persons at Paraspur in Gonda on Thursday....