‘NDA has transparent method’: BJP slams Rahul Gandhi’s UPSC lateral entry remark, calls him ‘balak buddhi’

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday over his UPSC lateral entry remark.

The BJP tirade came after the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government's move to recruit public servants for 45 posts through lateral entry would stripe off the reservation granted to the SCs, STs and OBCs. Slamming the Congress, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw alleged the UPA government had initiated the concept of lateral entry.

Pointing out at the hypocrisy of the Congress party over lateral entry matter, he took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and stated, “The second Admin Reforms Commission (ARC) was established in 2005 under the UPA government. Veerappa Moily chaired it. UPA period ARC recommended the recruitment of experts to fill the gaps in roles that require specialised knowledge.”

Ashwini Vaishnaw refuted the Congress leader's claim and suggested that the NDA government has transparent method. The post further reads, "The NDA government has created a transparent method to implement this recommendation. Recruitment will be done through UPSC transparently and fairly. This reform will improve governance."

Dismissing Rahul Gandhi's lateral entry allegations, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya in a post on X accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance of carrying out lateral recruitments during their term without any process.

Listing out all the legal provisions and reservation rules which will apply to UPSC lateral recruitments, Amit Malviya tweeted, ""By eliminating that ad-hocism, the government of India has now ensured that lateral entries are made on the basis of established guidelines so that there is no impact on the quota and reservation system."

Citing the legal provisions for recruitment, the BJP leader asserted that the rules effective in recruiting officers through any other selection process of UPSC will also be applicable to lateral entries. These included, the official memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in 2016, DoPT memorandum issued in 2019, and the office memorandum issued by the union home ministry in 2020.

Malvia added, "How many times do one have to explain the same thing to ‘balak buddhi.’