Meghwal criticises Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on lateral entry, highlights past appointments

Bikaner: Hitting out at the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for his comments on recruiting public servants through lateral entry, Union minister of state Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday asked why Rahul Gandhi forgets the tenure of his father Rajiv Gandhi.

“I have to mention, what was Manmohan Singh’s entry?” he asked.

Gandhi has alleged the government is “attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through the RSS instead of the UPSC”.

Meghwal said that whatever appointments or recruitments or selections are to be done, UPSC will do it.

“Rahul Gandhi’s sudden affection for OBCs has emerged out of nowhere,” the Union minister said, while emphasising that lateral entry has existed before but under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, it is being made systematic and effective. Meghwal also criticised Rahul Gandhi, noting that as the Leader of the Opposition, his statements against institutions like UPSC and the Election Commission are unfortunate.

Meghwal referred to a response given by then Minister Jitendra Singh in the Rajya Sabha in July 2019, which highlighted what happened during the Congress era.

He also referred to the names of Dr Manmohan Singh (Finance Secretary in 1976), Vijay Kelkar (Secretary of Petroleum and Gas in 1994, later Finance Secretary), Bimal Jalan (Finance Secretary in 1991), Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Economic Advisor in 1979), Rakesh Mohan (Secretary of Economic Affairs), Ram Vinay Sahai (Power Secretary in 2002).