Top leaders of the Congress on Friday reviewed the political situation against the backdrop of the Supreme Court stay on the law providing for 27 per cent reservation for the backward classes in elite educational institutions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee were among the top leaders who attended the meeting.

Congress has suggested a judicial review of the Supreme Court stay and distanced itself from the criticism of the "interim order" by political parties.

"I do not agree that it is a path of confrontation," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said when asked about the criticism of the apex court order by the Left parties.

United Progressive Alliance allies Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Pattali Makkal Katchi have already stepped up pressure on the Centre to find ways for immediate implementation of the Central Educational Institution (Reservation in Admission) Act of 2006.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK supremo K Karunanidhi has shot off a letter to the prime minister and presiding officers of both the Houses following up on a hard-hitting resolution by the state Assembly.

Tamil Nadu, which has the highest reservation in the country at 69 per cent, will observe a state-wide government-sponsored bandh on Saturday.

The Left parties had termed the court order staying the law providing OBC quotas in elite educational institutions as "retrograde, unfortunate and uncalled for."