Union Minister J P Nadda speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Tuesday.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Hitting back at the Congress over the caste census demand, BJP chief J P Nadda on Tuesday asked the opposition party as to how many members from OBC, SC and ST communities were there in the National Advisory Committee during the UPA regime or are on the board of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
During a discussion in Rajya Sabha over the Union Budget, Nadda, who is the leader of the Upper House, alleged that Congress leaders were averse to reservations and Swaminathan Commission recommendations on MSP hike when the party was in power but it is now trying to become a champion of OBCs and farmers and is shedding "crocodile tears".
The BJP president said that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had called the Mandal Commission report “One Man’s Obstinacy” and cited the party's slogan under Indira Gandhi to not vote in the name of caste.
He alleged that for the sake of votes, the Congress has started posing as a "champion of OBC (other backward classes)".
“What Rajiv Gandhi had said on the Mandal Commission report? One Man’s Obstinacy,” Nadda said.
"How many OBCs are there in the working committee of Congress? How many OBCs, SCs, STs are there on the board of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation? How many OBCs, SC, and STs were there in the National Advisory Committee during the UPA regime?" Nadda asked.
He said shedding “crocodile tears” on OBC will not help.
"If we talk about Prime Minister Modi ji, be it first cabinet, second cabinet or the third, maximum OBC and SC /ST members have been in our cabinet,” Nadda said.
The Congress and Rahul Gandhi have been demanding a caste census. In Lok Sabha on Monday, Gandhi displayed a photo of the halwa ceremony that precedes the printing of the budget, saying there was no Dalit, tribal or backward class person in the image.
Gandhi said 20 officers worked on preparing the country's budget and only one was from the minority community and one from the OBC category.
Nadda also said that too much politics is happening on the Agniveer issue.
"You (Congress) have become well-wishers of the Army. I have been saying that there should be no politics on national issues. We should keep the army out of politics. This (Agnipath scheme) decision has been taken after 400-500 consultations,” Nadda said.
He said that several Congress-led governments were formed after 1971-72 when the issue of "One Rank One Pension" was raised.
He said the UPA regime in 2014 during the interim budget just allocated Rs 500 crore in the interim budget and it is the NDA government under PM Narendra Modi that implemented the scheme.
The leader of the house said former minister of state agriculture minister KV Thomas under UPA had called MSP (minimum support price) non-conducive as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission.
"Today you have become the champion of MSP. It is like the language changes when one's side changes. Production cost with 50 per cent margin as recommended by Swaminathan Commission in MSP was accepted by no other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Nadda said.
He said that Rajya Sabha members P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal delivered their speeches on budget speeches replete with suggestions but "why don't good ideas come to them when they were here (on the treasury bench)".
He said that one of them proposed education reform but reforms in education finally took place under the Modi government.
Nadda said that the Union Budget 2024-25 is a forward-looking budget.
"It is a budget of continuity that brings stability to the economy with inclusive development," he said.