Arjun Ram Meghwal addressed the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session of Parliament in New Delhi. (Image source: PTI)
Arjun Ram Meghwal questioned how the then Congress government appointed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as finance minister in 1976.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday slammed Rahul Gandhi for claiming that the government was trying to bypass the reservation system through lateral entry and reminded the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was imprisoned in 1976 Appointed as Finance Minister via the lateral entry route.
The minister also dismissed Gandhi's allegation that RSS personnel would be hired as civil servants through this model as “baseless” and pointed out that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made it possible by empowering the UPSC to frame rules. The horizontal entry system became orderly. Earlier, he noted that there was no formal system in place to allow such access to governance.
“Whatever appointment, recruitment or selection is to be done, the UPSC will do it. What is the problem with the BJP, RSS? The allegations are baseless,” Meghwal told PTI Video in Bikaner.
He said RSS is an organization that promotes cultural nationalism.
The minister alleged that Gandhi was trying to mislead people and tarnish the image of institutions like UPSC by “spreading lies”.
“Rahul Gandhi's efforts to make such false accusations will never succeed,” he said, adding that despite being the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi made irresponsible remarks.
“Dr Manmohan Singh was also part of the side entrance. How did you directly make him the finance minister in 1976?” the minister said.
He said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, then deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, entered service through the lateral entry route. He said that BJP president Sonia Gandhi has been appointed as the chairperson of the National Advisory Council. “The Prime Minister is a constitutional position. But is the National Action Council a constitutional body?” he quipped, adding that Gandhi's status was higher than that of the Prime Minister.
He claimed that the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had opposed reservation in 1961, while Rajiv Gandhi, who was the leader of the Opposition, opposed the Lok Sabha seat Keep OBC.
“You start going sideways. Prime Minister Modi has done a very methodical job,” he said.
The minister pointed out that these are contract positions. “Suppose an environmental expert becomes the deputy minister, what's the problem… This person has to be an expert in a particular field,” he said.
He said the side entrance is open to everyone. “It is also applicable for SC, ST and OBC category personnel. IAS vacancies are different. They claim that we are ending reservations. What are they doing during recruitment? Their love for OBC suddenly shows. They are trying to mislead SC, ST, OBC students,” he said.
Condemning the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata, he said the entire country was ashamed.
“After the incident, we worked hard to destroy the evidence. It was a very shameful incident and we condemn it in very strong terms,” he said.
Later, Meghwal, MP from Bikaner, arrived at the BSF outpost at Kanuvali on the Indo-Pak border to celebrate the Raksha Bandhan festival with BSF women personnel.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
