Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Sunday asked the Congress to explain to the Rajya Sabha its position on an amendment bill that seeks to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, PTI reported.
The Opposition party’s stand will reveal if it really wants the betterment of backward communities, he said at a public meeting in the town of Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh.
The Lok Sabha had on Thursday passed the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017, which will now go to the Upper House.
“Modi government has got the OBC bill passed in the Lok Sabha,” Shah said. “This will go to the Rajya Sabha. Will [Congress chief] Rahul Gandhi clear his stand before the country that whether his party will help in the passage of the bill in the Rajya Sabha or not. This will make it clear whether the Congress was really for the welfare of the backward.”
In 2017, the Congress-led Opposition in the Rajya Sabha pushed through some amendments to the bill, forcing it to be sent back to the Lower House. The BJP does not have a majority in the Upper House.
Shah again criticised the Opposition’s “vote-bank politics” over the National Register of Citizens in Assam. He reiterated that “each and every Bangladeshi infiltrator” needs to be “pushed out” from the country.
“[West Bengal Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee and Congress say that NRC should not be done, I ask Rahul baba whether NRC should be conducted in the country or not,” the BJP president said. “But, he does not answer. You all should tell that whether the Bangladeshi infiltrators should be pushed out or not. Today I would like to ask the SP [Samajwadi Party], the BSP [Bahujan Samaj Party] and the Congress whether they want the infiltrators to stay in the country or they should be driven out.”
At Sunday’s event, the century-old Mughalsarai Junction was formally renamed after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Chief Minister Adityanath were also present.
The three leaders also flagged off a passenger train and a goods train with all-woman crew, and launched a “smart-yard project”.
In August 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs cleared the state government’s proposal to honour Upadhyay by renaming the station. This led to protests by the Opposition in Parliament, where the Samajwadi Party claimed that the station was being renamed after someone who had made “no contribution to the freedom struggle”. In June, Governor Ram Naik approved the proposal.
The Mughalsarai Junction is one of the busiest railway stations in the country. The British had set it up as a key station between Delhi and present-day Kolkata.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!