Lateral entry: Rahul Gandhi accuses BJP of 'snatching reservation' to help people of RSS

New Delhi: Upping the ante over the lateral entry issue, the Congress on Monday accused the BJP of "snatching reservation" and handing out posts meant for SCs, STs, OBCs, and EWS to people of the RSS.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that while his party-led government had brought in lateral entry to appoint select specialists and experts in some sector-specific posts as per their utility, the Modi government has made provision for it to "snatch the rights" of Dalits, tribals and backward classes.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government's move of recruiting public servants through lateral entry was an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis. He accused the BJP of seeking to snatch reservations from 'bahujans'.

The Congress has strongly criticised the government after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Saturday issued a notification for recruiting 45 joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries through lateral entry -- referred to as the appointment of specialists (including those from the private sector) in government departments.

"Lateral entry is an attack on Dalits, OBCs and adivasis," Gandhi said on X. "The BJP's distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from bahujans," the former Congress chief said.

In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, "Why is the provision of lateral entry by the Modi government an attack on the Constitution? Instead of filling jobs in government departments, the BJP has eliminated 5.1 lakh posts in the last 10 years by selling the share of Government of India in PSUs alone."

Casual and contractual recruitment has increased by 91 per cent, he claimed. Posts for SCs, STs, and OBCs decreased by 1.3 lakh by 2022-23, he alleged.

"We had brought lateral entry to appoint select specialists and experts in some sector-specific posts as per their utility. But the Modi government has made provision of lateral entry not to appoint experts in the government but to snatch the rights of Dalits, tribals and backward classes," Kharge said.

"SC, ST, OBC, EWS posts will now be given to people of the RSS. This is BJP's 'Chakravyuh' to change the Constitution by snatching reservation," the Congress president alleged.

Government sources have said the concept of lateral entry was first introduced under the Congress-led UPA regime and was strongly endorsed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission established by it in 2005.

Also, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the Congress' criticism of the lateral entry system in senior bureaucracy shows its "hypocrisy", and asserted the BJP-led NDA government has created a transparent method to implement the concept developed by the UPA dispensation.

In a post in Hindi on X on Sunday, Gandhi had termed the government's move of recruiting public servants through lateral entry an "anti-national step", alleging that the reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs is being "openly snatched away" by such an action.

"Reservation of SC, ST and OBC classes is being openly snatched away by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the central government," Gandhi had said.

The INDIA bloc will strongly oppose this "anti-national step" that hurts both the administrative structure and social justice, Gandhi had said.

"Privatisation of the IAS is Modi's guarantee for ending reservation," he had said.