Opposition hails Centre's U-turn on lateral entry as victory of Constitution

After the Centre cancelled the latest advertisement on Tuesday for lateral entry in bureaucracy, all major Opposition parties expressed the view that the government's U-turn came due to the pressure mounted by Opposition parties and NDA allies and hailed it as "victory of the Constitution."

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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the Congress will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs and foil "conspiracies" of the BJP.

"We will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs.

We will foil the BJP's conspiracies like that of 'lateral entry' at any cost," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

"I am saying it again - by removing the 50 per cent reservation cap, we will ensure social justice based on caste census," the former Congress chief said.

The Congress claimed that the Centre's move to withdraw the advertisement for lateral entry in bureaucracy was due to the campaign by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc parties, and said this shows that only the power of the Constitution can defeat the "arrogance of a dictatorial regime".

Reacting to the development, Kharge said: "Long live the Constitution! The Congress party's fight for social justice for our Dalits, tribals, backward and weaker sections has foiled the BJP's plans to snatch away reservation." "Modi government's letter on lateral entry shows that only the power of the Constitution can defeat the arrogance of a dictatorial regime," the Congress chief said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Whether it is the long term capital gain/Indexation attack on the middle class in the budget, or referring the Waqf Bill to JPC, or putting the Broadcast Bill on the back-burner -- the power of the people and the opposition is saving the country from the Modi government," he said.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said his party welcomes the government's directive to withdraw the lateral entry advertisement under pressure from the opposition and NDA allies.