New Delhi: Days after the University Grants Commission (UGC) notified new regulations mandating all higher educational institutions to form equity committees under the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing widespread opposition. From resignations within the BJP including office bearers in Uttar Pradesh, petitions filed in the Supreme Court, protests by students across campuses and outside the UGC office in New Delhi, as well as criticism of the rules from its own MPs, the saffron party is now facing fire from the ‘General’ category or upper castes, from which the party has drawn continued support. While Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has assured that the government will not allow the misuse of the new rules, demands for a rollback have grown, pointing to lack of redressal against false complaints, and alleging discrimination against the upper castes.The new rules, notified on January 13, have replaced the UGC’s 2012 regulations, expanding the definition of caste-based discrimination to include OBCs, and removing a provision for punishing false complaints.The regulations provide that a) institutions must set up an Equal Opportunity Centre (EOC), an Equity Committee, and Equity Squads to address discrimination; b) a 24-hour ‘Equity Helpline’ and Equity Ambassadors will be appointed; c) the UGC will monitor compliance, and non-compliant institutions risk losing funding and other benefits.At the centre of the storm is Regulation 3(c) of the new regulations, which provide for “discrimination only on the basis of caste or tribe against the members of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes”.ResignationsThe BJP is facing anger from its own party workers. On Monday (January 26), 11 BJP office bearers in Lucknow resigned from their posts in protest against the new regulations. In the letter, Ankit Tiwari, divisional general secretary, said the new UGC rules seek to play with the future of the children, and the BJP is deviating from the direction of Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. While his letter listed 10 other office bearers who also resigned from their posts, speaking to The Wire, Tiwari said that two had withdrawn their names on Tuesday.“The general category will face a host of difficulties with these new rules, because if any complaints come, there will be no one from our community in any of these committees to represent us. There is no redressal for false complaints and no punishment for making such complaints either. The BJP is like family and sometimes family members make mistakes. We want the top leadership to make changes in these rules because general category students and their families are feeling wronged,” Tiwari told The Wire.Shyam Sundar Tripathi, the district president of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha in Salon (Rae Bareli) has also tendered his resignation in protest against the new UGC rules in a letter to Modi. Tripathi said that his resignation had been accepted by the district chief, though he has not yet resigned from the party.“If not today then tomorrow our sons and daughters in colleges may face false action. If someone proposes to them and they say no, they will face action. The rules should be equal for everyone whether it is SC,ST,OBC or savarna. Does the general community not face discrimination? Those who are higher in number will discriminate against those who are fewer in number. Will discrimination not happen against savarnas?” Tripathi asked.Tripathi said that while the education minister had issued a statement, the struggle against the new UGC rules will continue till they are changed to include provisions against false cases, or include upper castes in the committees. “What will a verbal assurance do? We want the rules to be rolled back or at least changed so false complaints are not made,” he said.Bareilly city magistrate Alankar Agnihotri also tendered his resignation citing dissatisfaction over the new UGC rules.Devendra Pratap Singh, an MLC in Uttar Pradesh has also resigned from his post in a letter citing the new UGC rules that can become a tool for discrimination against general category students.Education minister’s ‘assurance’On Tuesday (January 27), education minister Pradhan assured that the new regulations will not be allowed to be misused and they will not provide for any discrimination. “I want to assure everyone that no one will be subjected to harassment and there will be no discrimination. No one will have the right to misuse anything in the name of discrimination,” Pradhan told reporters. “Whether it is the UGC, the Government of India, or the state government, it will be their responsibility. I assure you that whatever system or arrangement is made in India will be within the framework of the Constitution. As far as this issue is concerned, it has been done under the Supreme Court’s supervision, and I want to reassure you that no injustice, or discrimination will be committed against anyone,” he said.BJP MPs voice dissatisfactionWhile Pradhan has sought to counter the alleged inherent bias in the rules being claimed by the upper castes, voices of dissent within the BJP have come to the forefront.Pradhan’s parliamentary colleague, Rajya Sabha MP Mannan Kumar Mishra has said that the new rules seek to divide Hindus on the basis of caste.“I don’t know the thinking behind UGC officials taking this decision which divides Hindu society on the basis of caste. I don’t think this will benefit anyone, whether it is savarna, OBC or SC/ST. In colleges and institutions there should be a good environment, ragging should not happen. This should be for everyone. Dividing on the basis of caste in this regard is not correct. Because of the nationwide protests I think the government will look into this and do something about it. Or UGC should themselves review and withdraw these rules,” he said.Like Mishra, who assured that the Narendra Modi government will look into the concerns, BJP MP from Jharkhand’s Godda, Nishikant Dubey, has also sought to quell anger by saying that the new rules will apply to upper castes as well.“The 10% reservation for the poor upper-caste society was granted by none other than the honourable Prime Minister Modi himself. What kind of misunderstanding is this today in the name of UGC? Article 14 of the Constitution stands against any discrimination based on caste, class, varna, religion, or sect in this country—rest assured, the UGC’s rule will apply equally to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, as well as upper castes. This is not politics; the country runs on the Constitution of Baba Saheb Ambedkar,”Dubey posted on X on January 23.Despite his assurance, however, Dubey has faced anger from right wing social media handles, that have accused him of sending his children abroad, getting votes from primarily upper castes but not protecting their interests.Meet Nishikant Dubey> MP, Godda, Jharkhand> Gets max votes from General Category> Kids study abroad> Writing benefits of UGC Guidelines daily> Wants Reservation in Supreme Court judgesHis kids future is safe abroadBut he’s making sure your kid has ZERO future in India. pic.twitter.com/sfnRPhV264— Anuradha Tiwari (@talk2anuradha) January 26, 2026Right wing YouTuber Ajeet Bharti too has attacked Dubey for bringing in the 10% EWS quota and performatively using Ambedkar’s name.अरे सांसद महोदय, हमें भी अंग्रेजी-हिन्दी आती है थोड़ी बहुत। बकचोदी भी कहिएगा तो आपसे अच्छी ही कर लेंगे। बात 2026 के नियमों की हो रही है और आप 2023 का एक पन्ना पकड़ा रहे हैं! EWS इसमें कहाँ से आ गया है? अब थोड़ी देर में उज्जवला योजना और सौभाग्य योजना की बात करते हुए यह कहने… https://t.co/erxWMD991G— Ajeet Bharti (@ajeetbharti) January 24, 2026The upper caste anger has also found a voice in Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi who said that the education minister must step in.“Caste based discrimination takes place often but if there is discrimination in the guidelines itself, which makes one side the oppressor and the other oppressed is wrong. There may be seven cases of discrimination against SC/ST but there may be two against the general category too. Who will decide what is caste based discrimination? Such regulations are open for misuse. If there are false cases, what will be the penalty? Discrimination cannot be addressed by discrimination. These guidelines must be withdrawn, and the demand is growing across the country for its withdrawal. Prime minister, home minister and the education minister must address this and step in,” she said. Meanwhile commentators that have been in support of the BJP have also spoken out against the new UGC rules.Author Anand Ranganathan said that under the new rules caste discrimination victim definition excludes general category, equity committee composition excludes mention of general category and there is no provision for punishing false complaints.Protests and petitions On Tuesday, protests were held in Lucknow against the new UGC rules, as well as at the UGC office in New Delhi.Also on Tuesday, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the new rules by advocate Vineet Jindal. In a statement on X, Jindal said that the petition states that caste-based discrimination is not limited only to reserved categories, but can also occur with any individual from the general category.The petition has demanded amendment or repeal of Rule 3(C) and provisions for appropriate action against individuals who file false and malicious complaints in the name of caste discrimination.A separate petition has also been filed by Mrityunjay Tiwari, a post-doctoral researcher at Banaras Hindu University, The Hindu has reported.