Lucknow, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s decision to give 10 per cent quota to higher castes based on economic criteria, though terming it as an ‘election gimmick’ but hinted that it will support the Bill in Parliament.

“The announcement was made in a hurry without assessing the real situation but still we are happy that the BJP government at last have conceded to our demands,” she said.

In a statement here on Tuesday, Ms Mayawati alleged that bringing the new reservation policy for the upper caste is just a political stunt to gain electoral benefit in the Lok Sabha polls. If they were really serious, then why did they bring in such a bill at the fag end of their tenure, which questions their real intentions, she wondered.

“We have been demanding for the reservation of the poor upper caste since long,” she said.

Demanding reservation for the minority communities too, Ms Mayawati said,”BJP should first clarify its attitude of weakening the reservation system in the government jobs.”

She also demanded that the reservation of the SC/ST and the OBCs should be done as per their population.

“The reservation policy should be linked with the population so that the people can get real benefit from it,” she added.