New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha on Wednesday over the latter’s claim that Other Backward Classes (OBC) leaders and officers were under-represented in the Central government, saying that the BJP has 85 OBC MPs.
The Union Home Minister also mocked Rahul Gandhi when the Congress leader was leaving the House after completing his speech. Shah said: “Dariye mat, dariye mat, arre bhai daro mat”. While Shah was mocking the Congress leader, Speaker Om Birla said that those who want to leave can go.
This comes after Rahul Gandhi was seen on multiple occasions saying “daro mat” when BJP MPs were raising slogans in the middle of his speech on the Women’s Reservation Bill.
Shah speaking on the bill said both census and delimitation, the two deciding factors for women’s reservation, will be done soon after the election. His remarks came after Rahul Gandhi while speaking on the bill in Lok Sabha demanded the caste-based census.
Rahul Gandhi said that out of 90 Union Secretaries, only three belong to the OBC community. “This is an insult to the OBC community… They (OBC secretaries) control only five per cent of the country’s budget,” the Wayanad MP said amid chants of “shame” by Congress MPs.
Shah during his speech said: “Some NGOs give chits with questions to ask, and they say it here. Now their understanding is that the country is run by the secretary, but my understanding is that the country is run by the government. The Constitution says that the country’s policies are decided by the cabinet of this country.”
“If you want figures, I will tell you. In the BJP government, 29 per cent, that is, 85 MPs are from the OBC category. If you want to compare then let me tell you that 29 ministers also belong to the OBC category. BJP’s OBC MLAs are 365 out of 1358, that is, 27 per cent. These are more than all those singing the praises of OBC,” he said, adding that BJP’s OBC MLCs are 65 out of 163. “That means it is 40 per cent, whereas the opposition people talk about 33 per cent.”
While Shah was speaking, Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy tried to respond but was cut short by the Home Minister, who said, “In the new parliament at least you should act your age.”
The historic Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Women’s Reservation Bill on Wednesday was passed by Lok Sabha after the culmination of a day-long discussion.
The 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed after voting, where 454 members voted in favour of the bill while two AIMIM members voted against it, after a 90-minute voting process. The bill grants 33 per cent of seats to women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies.
–IANS
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