The other day, the Modi government got the UPSC to issue a job notification for 45 domain experts in the rank and pay of joint secretaries and deputy secretaries or directors. The 45 positions are lateral hires. They include ten joint secretaries. The rest of them would be directors or deputy secretaries. Key Ministries such as Finance, Agriculture, and Environment are covered.
On Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opposed the notification. The Congress leader said that lateral entry is an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis. "BJP’s distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from Bahujans," he added.
The Congress party and its INDIA bloc partners are out to embarrass the BJP in the coming months ahead of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and other States. It is said that a perception is taking root in Maharashtra that the NDA is anti-reservation. The narrative worked wonders for the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh in the recent General Elections. The same trick is now going to be used against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and state BJP leaders such as Devendra Fadnavis.
