Cong skipped meet to select new CIC as he is Dalit: PM

SIDHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attacked the Congress, saying it skipped the meeting convened to select the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) as he is a Dalit and this reflected the anti-Scheduled Castes mindset of the main Opposition party.

Addressing an election rally in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh which will vote on November 17, Modi alleged the Congress keeps abusing him everyday, and slammed the party for having an “anti-adivasi mindset” as he cited its Opposition to the candidature of the country’s first tribal woman President Droupadi Murmu last year.

The PM’s attack on the Congress came two days after the main Opposition party claimed it was “kept in the dark” over selection of new Chief Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya, the first Dalit to have been appointed to the post.

“The Congress has only one job — to hurl abuses at Modi day and night. By this, they are abusing Other Backward Classes,” remarked Modi. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) works for the welfare of Dalits, tribals and OBCs.

The PM maintained the Congress has nothing but dislike for Dalits and adivasis.

Congress Lok Sabha MP and a member of the selection committee for appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, in a letter to President Murmu, has claimed he was “kept in the dark” about the selection of Samariya as the new CIC.

Former IAS officer Samariya was on Monday sworn in as the CIC by President Murmu.

The CIC and Information Commissioners are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee headed by the PM. The panel also comprises the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union minister nominated by the PM.