"Harsh lesson for PM Modi, BJP-RSS regime": Congress' Venugopal on lateral entry row

NEW DELHI: After the central government withdrew the lateral entry advertisement on Tuesday, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal dubbed it as a "harsh lesson" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-RSS regime.

In a post on X, Venugopal accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the lateral entry system as a means to undermine reservation policies.

He highlighted that for six years, numerous voices have raised concerns about how the lateral entry system threatens to dismantle reservation provisions in the bureaucracy.

"Let this lateral entry incident serve as a harsh lesson for PM Modi and the BJP-RSS regime to never tamper with the Constitution. The lateral entry system was introduced in 2018. For 6 years, countless voices exposed how lateral entry in the bureaucracy is a ploy to destroy reservations," the Congress leader said.

"Under INC President Mallikarjun Kharge and LOP Rahul Gandhi's leadership, we will be the staunchest guardians of our Constitution and reservations. No attempt to dilute representation and fundamental rights of SC, ST, OBCs will be allowed," he added.

The Congress leader also praised National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies who stood up "to the injustice being plotted by their ally BJP."

"The Union should put the lateral entry mechanism to rest and take urgent steps to ensure there is adequate representation for marginalised communities in the senior bureaucracy," he urged.

Earlier, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh also attacked the central government over the later entry withdrawal amid uproar.

In a post on X, Ramesh highlighted that lateral entry was advocated strongly in 2017 by the NITI Aayog and was actually announced a year later as a big reform measure that would transform the civil service. "Since 2019, there have been 63 appointments through lateral entry. A further 45 were planned this year but these have just been cancelled," he added.

He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to do "damage control".

"The non-biological PM is now trying to do much damage control. His drumbeaters are trying to shift responsibility, while the plain and simple truth is that it was hailed as one of Modi's transformational initiatives when it was launched," he said.

The UPSC recently released a notification for recruiting Joint Secretaries, Directors, and Deputy Secretaries through lateral entry. Following criticism, Department of Personnel and Training wrote to UPSC asking to cancel the advertisement.