Far from the truth: Kharge on Shah’s speech
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday took a jibe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his speech in the Rajya Sabha, saying it is far from the truth.
on Congress over its stand on the reservation, alleging that the grand old party does not want any welfare of OBCs but they want to give quota to Muslims by increasing the limit by 50 per cent.
Shah asserted that the BJP will not allow reservation in the country on the basis of religion.
“I want to tell the people of the country that reservation on the basis of religion exists in two states of the country… which is unconstitutional. It has been made clear in the Constitution that there will be no reservation on the basis of religion. But when Congress was in power in both the states, reservation was given on the basis of religion,” Shah said during his marathon reply to a two-day special debate on the 75th anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of India in the Rajya Sabha.
“They (Congress) do not want any welfare of OBCs, they want to give reservation to Muslims by increasing the limit by 50 percent,” the Union Home Minister said.
“But today I once again say with responsibility in this House that as long as there is even a single BJP MP, we will not allow reservation on the basis of religion,” Shah said.
Alleging that the Congress is an ”anti-reservation party”, Shah said in 1955, the Kaka Kalelkar Commission was formed to provide reservations to the OBC.
“The report was nowhere to be found,” the Union Home Minister said, adding that had the recommendations of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission been accepted, the Mandal Commission would not have been formed.
“In 1980, the recommendations of the Mandal Commission came out, but it was not implemented. It was implemented when Congress was voted out in 1990,” the Union Home Minister said.
He also hit out at Congress and other opposition parties over allegations concerning electronic voting machines (EVM) and said the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected petitions on the issue.
The Union Home Minister said when opposition parties lose polls they start complaining about EVMs.
Speaking on the constitutional amendments, Shah said the BJP ruled the country for a total of 16 years (6 years during Atal Bihari Vajpayee and 10 years under PM Modi) and brought 22 amendments to the Constitution while Congress in a period of 55 years made 77 amendments.
“Both parties have made amendments to the Constitution. There are different ways to implement amendments—some follow constitutional procedures, while others may be done merely as a formality. The character and intentions of a party can be understood by examining the objectives behind the amendments to the Constitution,” the Union Home Minister said.
He said the first amendment was brought on June 18, 1951, during Jawaharlal Nehru’s government.
“19 (A) was introduced in the Constitution to curb the freedom of expression of people. The twenty-fourth amendment was brought by the Indira Gandhi government on November 5, 1971, which gave Parliament ‘unbridled’ powers to curtail the fundamental principles of citizens,” the Union Home Minister said.
He added, “The 39th amendment was brought on August 10, 1975, marking the dark chapter in Indian democracy. As Allahabad High Court had declared Indira’s election as illegal, her government brought an amendment with retrospective effect to nullify the court verdict.”
“Under the 45th amendment, the Lok Sabha tenure was extended from five years to six years, fearing defeat in elections while the tenure of President’s rule was extended by six months,” Shah pointed out.
He said the Congress governments brought many amendments but these four expose the mentality and motive of the party as all this was done to safeguard one family’s interest and serve their personal agendas.
The Union Home Minister further went to share four amendments brought under the BJP government, spotlighting the fact that all were brought for people’s welfare.
“Under the 101st amendment brought on July 1, 2017, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was brought as part of the ‘one nation-one tax’ policy. This move brought parity in taxation across the country and benefitted crores of citizens,” he said.
“Under the 102nd amendment, the OBC commission was given constitutional status. Under the 103rd amendment (January 12, 2019), 10 per cent reservation was given to people from backward communities. The 106th amendment gave 33 per cent reservation to women by bringing Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam,” Shah said.
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