’BJP’s Ram Rajya seeks to destroy Constitution’: Rahul Gandhi says UPSC lateral entry an attack on Dalits, OBCs…

UPSC lateral entry row: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed BJP -the BJP-led NDA government, accusing it of destroying the Constitution with a ‘distorted version of Ram Rajya.’ He reiterated the allegation that the lateral entry was an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis.

Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government again. Asserting that the NDA's move to recruit public servants for 45 posts through lateral entry would adversely impact the reservation granted to the SCs, STs and OBCs. His post said, “Lateral entry is an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis."

Taking a swipe at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said, "BJP’s distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from Bahujans.”

Previously, Rahul Gandhi took the spotlight after he suggested that PM Modi was favouring recruits with affiliations to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). This development comes after the UPSC announced recruitment of 10 joint secretaries and 35 director/deputy secretary posts in various ministries of the central government. The recruitment to these posts will be made through the lateral entry mode on a contract basis.

However, BJP dismissed Rahul Gandhi's lateral entry allegations and termed it as the hypocrisy of the Congress party, which had initiated the concept of lateral entry. BJP IT department head Amit Malviya hit out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance for carrying out lateral recruitments during its terms without any process. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw contended that the NDA government followed a transparent method.

Rahul's first attack on BJP government came on Sunday, when the Congress leader said, “Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through 'Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh' instead of Union Public Service Commission.”

In a post on X, he suggested that ‘representatives of a few corporates’ will be recruited for ‘top positions,' referring to the latest salvo by US-based short seller firm Hindenburg Research. He added, “A prime example of what representatives of a few corporates will do by occupying key government positions is SEBI, where for the first time a person from the private sector has been made the chairperson.”