New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS): Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for raising the demand for the caste-based census and demand for OBC representation in the Women's Reservation Bill, saying that there was no Prime Minister from the OBC in the grand old party's history.
In a post in Hindi on X, Rijiju said: "This is for Shri Rahul Gandhi and I hope he can read and understand it. Rahul Gandhi and Congress have raised questions regarding OBC representation in Parliament. Whereas history presents a different story."
"... why did they not pay attention to OBC representation? Let's focus on the facts. Official records do not include anyone's OBC status. It is logical to ask for evidence, especially in the light of the OBC background of our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The history and work of Congress says a lot," he said.
"Today, India has an OBC Prime Minister leading a government with a record-breaking 35 per cent OBC representation among ministers. In contrast, the Congress has no OBC prime minister in its history and has opposed OBC leaders like Charan Singh and Deve Gowda," he said.
He also said that (former Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi opposed the Mandal Commission, highlighting the gap between rhetoric and action.
"As actions matter more than speeches in Indian politics, Rahul's questions should prompt Congress to reflect on its history and real contribution to OBC empowerment," Rijiju added.
His remarks came a day after Rahul Gandhi, while discussing the Women's Reservation Bill on Wednesday in Lok Sabha, urged the Centre to immediately implement the Women's Reservation Bill and conduct the caste census otherwise the opposition will do it.
He described the women's reservation bill as "incomplete" as it does not include reservation for OBC women.
Participating in the discussion on the Women's Reservation Bill, Gandhi said that though he supported the bill, it was an incomplete legislation as no OBC reservation has been included in it for women.
A large chunk of women should have access to reservation but that is missing, Gandhi said.
He also shared a data of 90 Union government ministries' secretaries, informing that it was "shocking and shattering" to know that only three of them belonged to the OBC community.
"This an insult to the OBC community. Out of 90 secretaries in the government of India, only three are from the OBC community. They control only 5 per cent of the country's budget," the Wayanad MP said amid chantings of "Shame!" by Congress MPs.