Rahul Gandhi's Claims On Representation In Constitutional Bodies Untrue: Sources

Countering an assertion by Rahul Gandhi that there was a "systematic pattern" of excluding marginalised communities from appointments to Constitutional and autonomous institutions, government sources on Thursday pointed to the UPA government's track record and said his claims do not hold up to scrutiny.

After the Leader of the Opposition's meeting with PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to pick the Chief Information Commissioner, eight Information Commissioners and a vigilance commissioner of Wednesday, Congress sources had said Gandhi had raised the exclusion of 90% of Indians - from Dalit, Adivasi, OBC/EBC and minority communities, from the selection pool. 

The Congress MP said that this exclusion had been a systemic pattern for such appointments, and he had sought details on the caste composition of the applicants for the posts weeks ago. In the meeting, the sources had said, he found out that less than 7% of applicants and only 1 shortlisted candidate were from these communities.

Following the discussions, Gandhi submitted a formal dissent note. His dissent is understood to highlight both representational concerns and disagreements over the selection criteria.

Sources pointed out on Thursday that the Central Information Commission was set up in 2005 and not even one person from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes was appointed to it between then and 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was in power. 

"It was the NDA government that appointed Suresh Chandra, a member of the ST community, to the Commission in 2018," a source said. Heeralal Samariya was appointed Information Commissioner in 2020, and he became the Chief Information Commissioner in 2023 - the first person from a Scheduled Caste to hold the post.

Regarding Wednesday's meeting, the sources said the names of one SC, one ST, one OBC, one person from the minority community, and one woman were recommended for the eight vacancies for Information Commissioners. 

"Overall, five out of the eight recommended names were from disadvantaged sections," said a source.