Government refutes Rahul Gandhi’s charge on exclusion of the marginalised for top posts

The Union government on Thursday (December 11, 2025) countered Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that only 7% of the candidates put forward by the government for appointments as eight Information Commissioners, the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), and Vigilance Commissioner were from marginalised communities.

Government sources confirmed that for the eight vacancies as Information Commissioners, the government had recommended one name from the SC community, one from the ST community, one member from the Other Backward Classes and a member of a minority community, and a woman. “So, there were five candidates from the marginalised communities for the eight posts being considered, which shows that Rahul Gandhi’s assertions do not hold up,” said the source.

Mr. Gandhi had reportedly made the assertion, according to Congress sources, in his dissent notes following a meeting of the high level committee, comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Mr. Gandhi, which met on Wednesday (December 10, 2025) to finalise the names of the next Chief Information Commissioner, eight Information Commissioners and a Vigilance Commissioner.

The meeting ran for nearly 90 minutes but ended without any names getting the approval of all three, after Mr. Gandhi reportedly submitted detailed dissent notes, reportedly stating that none of the candidates put forward for the posts belonged to any of the marginalised communities. 

Government sources also shared a comparison of appointments of candidates from marginalised communities under the regimes of the United Progress Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance to stress their point. “Between 2005 and 2014, under the UPA, not a single person was appointed as either a member or the chairperson of the Commission. It was under the NDA, in 2018, that a member, Suresh Chandra, belonging to the Scheduled Tribes was appointed. In 2020, Heeralal Samariya, was appointed and in 2023 he became Chief Information Commissioner, the first-ever candidate from the Scheduled Castes to be appointed to that position,” said a source.

The names of the new CIC, Information Commissioners and Vigilance Commissioner had not been announced at the time of writing.