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As the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday cancelled its advertisement for filling 45 posts in the bureaucracy through lateral entry amid a political row, the BJP’s allies and opponents alike took credit for the development.
The BJP’s key ally Janata Dal (United), which on Monday expressed serious concern about the decision, welcomed the UPSC decision that came after Union Minister Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Jitendra Singh wrote to the commission’s chairperson Preeti Sudan, saying, “It is important that the constitutional mandate towards social justice is upheld so that deserving candidates from marginalized communities get their rightful representation in the government services.”
“We thank the Prime Minister for taking cognisance of our concern. This is a victory for the social justice movement led by Nitish Kumar. He has again emerged as the champion of forces of social justice in the country,” said JD(U) national spokesperson K C Tyagi.
Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan, who also addressed a press conference in Patna, said on X that he and his party had never been in favour of the recruitment process through lateral entry by the Central government. “My demand was that any government appointments should be made keeping in mind the provisions of reservation. Today, on the instructions of the Prime Minister, a decision has been taken to cancel this process, which I and my party welcome,” Paswan said.
The NDA government at the Centre led by PM Modi was committed to the uplift of the weaker sections of the society, he added.
Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said his party’s fight for social justice for Dalits, tribals, backward and weaker sections had foiled the BJP’s plans to snatch reservation. “The government has taken a step back due to the campaign of Rahul Gandhi, Congress and INDIA parties. But as long as BJP-RSS is in power, it will keep adopting new tactics to snatch away reservation and we all have to be careful,” said Kharge.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Congress would protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs. “We will foil conspiracies like the BJP’s ‘lateral entry’ at any cost,” Gandhi said.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore, in a post on X, said, “2024 has given us two outcomes: a weak Prime Minister and a strong people’s Leader of Opposition. In the end, it’s the victory of our Constitution.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav called it the victory of unity of public which, as he said, started joining the party’s call for agitation announced against “lateral entry” from October 2. “The conspiracy of making appointments through the back door of lateral entry in UPSC by rejecting reservation has finally succumbed to the unity of PDA (Pichcha, Dalit, and Alpsankhyak, or minorities),” Yadav said. Yadav said his party had resolved it would not allow any such move to succeed in the future as well and would strongly and decisively oppose it.
RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha said the rollback of lateral entry was the victory of Dalit-Bahujan population and advocates of the Constitution. “The advertisement of lateral entry appeared on August 7. Immediately after that Leader of Opposition (in Bihar assembly) Tejashwi Yadav held a press conference and asserted that the government would have to roll this back … after that traction occurred across the country following which people realised and the decision was rolled back by the government today,” he said.
BSP president Mayawati said the government’s hand was forced by a “strong protest” by her party. Mayawati added that all such “anti-reservation processes” need to be stopped at every level.
