Congress skipped CIC appointment meeting as they hate Dalits: PM Modi

Speaking at a public rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, Modi said: “When the BJP decided that a tribal daughter should become the country’s President, the Congress opposed it. It is the BJP which respects the aspirations of the SC, ST and OBC. Today, you must have read in your newspaper that for the first time in the country… I cancelled my election programme and attended a meeting in Delhi – we decided to appoint a Dalit from Rajasthan as the Chief Information Commissioner. Look at the Congressmen, they had to come to the meeting, they were invited much before time, we had spoken to them over the phone. But as soon as they came to know that a Dalit is going to become the CIC, they boycotted the meeting. They hate Dalits so much (itni Daliton se nafrat karte hain). When the President is tribal, they oppose that, CIC is Dalit, they oppose it, and then they spread lies and do drama for sympathy.”

The PM’s remarks drew a sharp reaction from Chowdhury, who told The Indian Express: “This is an unmitigated falsehood and outrageous lie. I am shocked how the Prime Minister of India could react in such a heinous manner. Everything is on record. Everything is on his table. It is really shocking. I think this kind of heinous recourse they have taken because of the assembly elections. It is only to score an electoral brownie point. They have designed it very deliberately.”

“I had written a letter to Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, on November 1 itself urging him to reschedule the meeting. I spoke to Singh four-five times that day. He told me there was urgency and that if I cannot make it to the meeting in Delhi on November 3, he can send someone to Kolkata to get my signature on the selection,” he said. “I told him that he can send someone to my party office in Kolkata… I told him I can even send electronic signatures given the urgency. I asked him to send the documents first. The documents reached me on November 2 afternoon. There were 10 names. I told him to send someone to Kolkata… I will sign the document after recording my opinion.”

“I am not irresponsible. I am not the leader of an irresponsible opposition party. That is why I agreed to all that. But despite that, they did not show any courtesy. They did not communicate to me that everything had been done and that the selection had been done. I got to know about the name of the next CIC from the media… The matter did not end there… While they did not communicate to me that the CIC had been selected… they sent me the invitation for his swearing-in ceremony. It is nothing but misdemeanour on the part of the Government,” said Chowdhury, who did not attend the swearing-in ceremony.

In a “rejoinder” issued in the evening, Chowdhary wrote: “I have, all through my political career, stood up for Dalits and the downtrodden, and attributing any extraneous factors associated with caste or community as the reason for me not attending the meeting of the Selection Committee is not only unreasonable but too far-fetched to believe. My only concern is adherence to the legal provisions and to democratic norms, concerns and traditions, which have been flouted.”

Modi’s comments came during a speech in Sidhi district, where the party faced a political firestorm in July when a video emerged of a man with alleged links to the BJP urinating on a tribal man. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had to intervene, meeting the tribal man and washing his feet. The four-time Sidhi MLA, Kedarnath Shukla, was denied a ticket and the BJP fielded Lok Sabha MP Riti Pathak as a damage control measure.

Modi said that only those who attend the “Congress darbar” in Delhi were promoted and a leadership for the SC, ST and OBC society could never emerge.

“Today, the poor, Dalit, OBC and tribal society has understood that the Congress is not their representative. Friends, look at the history of Congress, they have only promoted those who attend their court in Delhi. Congress never let the influential leadership of SC, ST, OBC society emerge,” he said.

Saying that he had a “puzzle” for the audience, he said: “Sidhi is the birthplace of Birbal and therefore intelligence, wisdom and puzzle solving are traditional strengths of every child here. I want to give a puzzle to today’s youth, especially first-time voters… For decades, Congress had Congress governments from panchayat to Parliament in the country, but today it is left in only a few states. Think and solve this puzzle – why did they get ruined?”

“This happened because Congress’s slogan has been jeb saaf, kaam half (clean the pocket of one’s money yet do half the work). UP, Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha – how many states should I count? Once Congress went, they (voters) did not let it enter again. This is also the case in MP; Congress has been longing for a majority for two decades,” he said.