NEW DELHI: The parliamentary affairs minister

Kiren Rijiju

on Sunday launched a fierce critique at leader of opposition

Rahul Gandhi

for his comments about the absence of

Dalits

and

Adivasis

from the

Miss India

list, made during a ‘Samvidhaan Samman Sammelan’ on Saturday.
Rijiju took his sharp response to X, saying, “Now, he wants reservations in Miss India competitions, films, sports! It is not only issue of “Bal Budhi”, but people who cheer him are – equally responsible too!”
He continued his post in Hindi, which loosely translates to, “Childish mind (Bal Budhi) may be good for entertainment, but in your divisive moves, do not make fun of our backward communities.”

Earlier, the former

Congress

chief argued that the country cannot function effectively without the participation of “90 per cent” of its population.

He criticised the Miss India list for excluding Dalit, Adivasi (tribal), and OBC women, noting, “I have checked the list of Miss India, which did not have any Dalit, Adivasi, or OBC women. Some will talk about cricket or Bollywood. No one will show the cobbler or plumber. Even top anchors in the media are not from the 90 per cent.”

“They will say Modiji embraced someone and we have become superpower. How have we become superpower when 90 per cent people has no participation?” Rahul questioned the mainstream media of the country.
Leader of opposition also claimed that the BJP might accuse him of trying to divide the country with his call for a caste census.
“We want to know how many people in institutions, corporates, Bollywood, and Miss India are from the 90 percent. I am only saying that

90 percent

do not have ‘bhagidari’ (participation), and this should be examined,” he added.