BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday said there is no backward class CM left in the Congress after the defeat of Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel in the state elections of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, respectively
Dubey argued that the Congress could not claim to support the backward classes given how former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi opposed the Mandal Commission recommendation to introduce quotas in 1990 and the Congress’ only OBC president, Sitaram Kesri, was removed eight years later.
“They (Congress) tell lies and give long speeches, saying that there should be caste-based reservation and that they make them [persons belonging to backward classes] chief ministers. Today Bhupesh Baghelji has been removed. Ashok Gehlotji has been removed. The chief minister that they have now is Revanth Reddy (who will take oath as Telangana CM on Thursday). Is he backward? The chief minister that is remaining, Sukhu (Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of HImachal Pradesh), is he backward?” asked Dubey, during a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill.
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The Bill seeks to provide reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other socially and educationally backward classes in jobs and professional institutions in Jammu and Kashmir.
The discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, which began on Tuesday, has sparked heated debates on the abrogation of Article 370 and the fact that though the Bill will increase the number of seats in J&K’s legislative assembly, elections to it have not been held since 2014.
