Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — who has asserted that only three out of the 90 secretaries serving in the Government of India are from the OBC community and lamented the scarcity of OBC judges — and accused him of attempting to sow discord within Indian society with the backing of anti-India forces.
Responding to Gandhi”s remarks, Rijiju took to X (formerly Twitter), and wrote: “Is he naive or a fool?”
During his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, a vocal advocate for a caste census, revisited this issue, highlighting the underrepresentation of OBCs, Dalits, and tribals in government positions. He emphasised that despite constituting significant portions of the population, these communities hold only a fraction of government roles, questioning the absence of their participation in power-sharing processes.
“Population of OBCs is around 46%, Dalits 15% and tribals 12% but have only 5% representation in the government. Of the 90 IAS officers stationed at the Centre, there are just three OBC officers who have been given small departments. Dalits and Adivasis continue to be unrepresented in the BJP regime. Why are they not part of the power sharing process?” Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying.
Rijiju clarified that the process for an IAS officer to attain the position of Secretary or for a lawyer to become a judge in High Court or Supreme Court is not immediate and is governed by a structured system of seniority.
“The current batch of Secretaries are generally to Batches, which came in or before 1992. At that time, there were reserved categories for SC & ST, but not OBC. OBC classification into All India Service (AIS) came only post 1995 following the Court verdict. Anyone who understands the service and the progression of the service knows how the batch system works in gaining seniority. Has Congress Party done anything in their time to promote more OBC/SC/ST IAS Officers and SC/ST/OBC Judges,” Rijiju added.
“Caste census is your biggest weapon and is the X-ray of the country. You should know what is your population and what is your participation. Ask yourself that this 73% (OBCs, Dalits and tribals) has how much wealth of the country,” Rahul Gandhi said during his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as it resumed after a small break in Prayagraj on Sunday.
Last year, during a discussion on the women’s reservation bill in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his concerns regarding the lack of OBC representation among government secretaries, branding it as an insult to the community. He urged the government to release the data from the caste census conducted during the UPA regime, threatening to disclose it if the government failed to do so.
Responding to Gandhi”s assertions, Home Minister Amit Shah defended the government”s stance, emphasising that the governance of the country is primarily dictated by elected representatives in the Cabinet and Parliament. Shah highlighted the significant representation of OBC members within the BJP, both in the Union Cabinet and across various legislative bodies, asserting the party”s commitment to empowering the OBC community.
“You (referring to Rahul Gandhi who was not present during Shah’s speech) are not here to listen, but I want to tell you that there are 29 per cent of MPs in our party who belong to the OBC community. If you want to do a comparison, just come to us,” he said.
Shah further said that in the Union Cabinet, there are 29 ministers who belong to the community and out of 358 MLAs, there are 365 MLAs in BJP who belong to the OBC category. “You speak about the OBC, but it was the BJP who gave this country a PM from the OBC community,” Shah said.
