The Congress today joined the chorus against the National Green Tribunal's new chairperson A K Goel, saying the former Supreme Court judge's appointment to the post showed the BJP's support for a bench that had "diluted" a law on atrocities against SCs and STs.
The Congress' comments came ahead of a 'Bharat Bandh' called by Dalit groups on August 9.
Though the ruling BJP had not taken a stand on the issue, its Dalit MPs and ally Ram Vilas Paswan's party LJP sought removal of Goel, who was appointed the NGT chairman immediately after he retired from the apex court early this month.
Paswan had written a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh conveying this demand of All India Ambedkar Mahasabha, a Dalit rights group, which had also sought a law to restore the original provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Paswan earlier said that Goel's appointment had sent a wrong message and his son and Lok Sabha MP Chirag Paswan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his removal.
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Today, Congress members Mallikarjun Kharge and K Suresh raised the issue in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, with the latter alleging that Goel was close to a Hindutva organisation and had given the judgement under its pressure.
The government had "rewarded" him for this, Suresh claimed, as the BJP's Anurag Thakur protested his comments.
Goel was one of the two apex court judges on a bench that introduced several safeguards in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Dalit bodies and almost all major political parties said the judgement had "diluted and weakened the law".
Kharge claimed that Goel's appointment indicated the government supported his judgement.
Suresh said the development had sent out a wrong message and Dalits were demanding his removal.
Dalit and tribal outfits had given a call for 'Bharat Bandh' on August 9. They had also given a similar call on April 2, which had turned violent.
The BJP has not spoken on the issue of Goel's appointment. It cited the Centre's review plea in the Supreme Court against its order on the atrocity law an another petition on quota in promotions for the scheduled castes and tribes to highlight its support for their demands.
Kharge also raised the issue of a UGC's directive that different departments of a university be treated as separate units for implementing quota for different communities, instead of the entire educational institution.
It was causing a lot of harm to the SCs, STs and OBCs, he said, wondering, "Do you want to end reservation?"
Intervening in the matter, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government had already issued directions for stopping the implementation of this UGC decision and also filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, as the directive was an outcome of a court's verdict.
He also underlined the NDA government's commitment to reservation, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi had often asserted that even a full stop and coma in the current quota rules would not be changed.
The BJP, party leaders said, was treading cautiously on these Dalit issues while supporting the just demands of the community.
The party's traditional support base of upper castes and a section of backward castes was unlikely to react very favourably if it was seen to be very vocal on these demands.
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