Arjun Ram Meghwal said that when the UPA government brought this bill in 2004, it thought that first this bill should be passed in the Rajya Sabha.
Jaipur:
Union Minister of State for Law Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday claimed that during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Congress could not muster the courage to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill because it was afraid of losing power. He accused Congress of misleading people regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill.
Meghwal said, “When the UPA government brought this bill in 2004, it thought that first this bill should be passed in the Rajya Sabha. Where it passed. After that, when this bill was brought in the Lok Sabha, there was an uproar over it. Due to the uproar, Congress could not muster the courage to pass it.
Meghwal told reporters, “Our (then) leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had said that we will support the bill, but the Congress felt that if the parties opposing the bill withdrew their support , then she will be out of power. That’s why he gave priority to power and did not give priority to the bill.
He also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement regarding secretaries and said, “Rahul Gandhi was repeating the same thing in Jaipur that there are three secretaries from Other Backward Classes (OBC) at the Centre. Rahul Gandhi doesn’t know whether he was praising or criticizing his (former) government?
Meghwal said that Rahul Gandhi should know that all these Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers are from the 1990 batch and there was a Congress government at that time. The minister said, “I want to ask him why he did not allow OBCs to become IAS officers at that time?”