Rajya Sabha Adjourned Amid Ruckus Over Muslim Reservation

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Monday as the ruling BJP members raised the issue of reservation to Muslims in public contracts in Karnataka leading to an uproar in the Upper House.

The upper house saw two adjournments before it was adjourned for the day.

The house witnessed uproarious scenes soon after it met for the day, with members of treasury benches raising slogans. While many of them were on their feet even before Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar sat on his chair, some of them entered the aisles.

As ruling BJP MPs created a ruckus, alleging that a Congress leader has vowed to change the Constitution to provide reservation to Muslims, Congress president and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that no force can change the Constitution made by B R Ambedkar.

Dhankhar gave Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju the floor to speak on what the ruling party members were agitating about.

"It is not our intention to disrupt this zero hour. Why I am standing here is because of an extremely important and sensitive matter which has come to our notice. MPs from NDA have come to me and raised this important issue," Rijiju said.

He said a senior Congress leader who holds a constitutional post has said the party will change the Constitution to provide reservation in contract work to the Muslim community.

Though he did not name the leader, he was apparently referring to D K Shivakumar.

"We cannot take this statement lightly. Because, if it was a statement made by any ordinary person, then we could have replied outside. Since this statement has come from a person who is holding a constitutional position and in very clear terms he has stated that the Congress party will provide reservation to the Muslim community and for that they will change the Constitution of India," the minister said.

Stating that it is "extremely serious", he said, "this is not a matter that we can tolerate.

"This is an assault on the Constitution of India, provided by Dr B R Ambedkar," he said, adding that Congress leaders carry the Constitution book in their pockets but are doing everything to undermine it.

When Dhankhar asked what he and his party wanted, Rijiju said the Congress president should make the party position clear and "tell the House and the nation why Congress wants to change the Constitution to provide reservation to Muslims".

Rijiju said, "This is Muslim League's policy and it was rejected by Sardar Patel....We want you should seek the resignation of deputy chief minister of Karnataka." Leader of the House and Union minister Jagat Prakash Nadda then got up to allege that the Congress was shredding the Constitution to pieces.

"It is unfortunate that the Congress party which claims to be the protector of the Constitution has tried to shred it in pieces by talking about such reservation on the basis of religion.

"Ambedkar while framing the Indian Constitution clearly stated that "reservation will not be done on the basis of religion... this is an accepted principle of the Constitution of India", he said.

"Now, the Karnataka government has passed a bill granting 4 per cent reservation in public contracts to minorities, Nadda said, demanding a statement from Kharge.

Dhankhar asked the ministers to authenticate the statements that were attributed to the Karnataka minister.

"This is a very serious matter. These people, who claim to be protectors of the Constitution, have shred it to pieces and violated the same.

"I want that such laws and rules should be withdrawn and discussion should take place and the Leader of Opposition and Congress president should answer," Nadda demanded.

After Kharge was allowed to speak, he said, "No one can change the Constitution provided by Ambedkar".

"We are the people protecting the Constitution. We are the ones who did Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir (and) these are the ones who believe in Bharat Todo (break India)," he said referring to BJP.

He tried to speak further but was repeatedly interrupted by the sloganeering by BJP MPs.

"We are the savers of the Indian Constitution," Kharge said before Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

When the house met after lunch at 2 PM, deputy chairman Harivansh allowed the laying of papers, as the same could not take place due to ruckus in the morning.

After the laying of papers, Kharge raised the issue of changing the Constitution that was raised in the house in the morning, saying, "I want to make it clear that our Karnataka minister has not said anything like that. The talk of changing the Constitution comes from the other side."

Nadda countered Kharge, saying he is giving "false statements" and claimed that the Congress government in Karnataka has passed a 4 per cent reservation for Muslims and minorities, after taking away the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs.

They have tried to give "backdoor entry" to Muslims through OBC reservation, he claimed.

"There is no repentance. Leave aside government jobs, they have now made provision for reservation in government contracts to Muslims. The Congress has lost its balance after remaining out of power for so long," he alleged.

As the ruckus continued, the deputy chairman adjourned the house for 15 minutes. After the resumption of proceedings, the deputy chairman called Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to take up the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024, for its passage with amendments, as passed by Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill earlier, after which the Lok Sabha passed it with some amendments.

Amid sloganeering by the Opposition, the motion was adopted by a voice vote. As the uproar continued, Deputy Chairman Harivansh adjourned the house for the day.

Earlier, the house granted leave of absence to members Shibhu Soren and Harbhajan Singh, who had sought permission from the house for health reasons and for prior commitments respectively.