New Delhi, Dec. 11 -- A committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to select the new Chief Information Commissioner, one vigilance commissioner and eight information commissioners, met in New Delhi on Wednesday but Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi rejected the shortlisted candidates and submitted a dissent note, said people aware of the matter. The 90-minute-long meeting was attended by Modi, home minster Amit Shah and Gandhi. Functionaries aware of the details said Gandhi raised the exclusion of Dalit, backward, tribal and minority communities -- who he said comprised 90% of Indian population -- from top bureaucratic posts. In the run up to the 2024 elections, Gandhi had repeatedly raised this issue and alleged that these communities were kept out of the decision-making process. After Gandhi raised the issue, PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah agreed to consider a few appointments from the limited applicant pool. A confirmation from the government side was awaited till the time edition went for printing. The meeting was scheduled to discuss the vacancies in the vigilance commission as well as the information commission. According to people aware of the details, Gandhi objected to the names proposed by the government and formally recorded his disagreement in writing. As per Section 12 (3) of the Right to Information Act, the PM is the chairperson of the committee, which includes the leader of opposition and a Union minister nominated by the PM, which selects and recommends the names for appointment as chief information commissioner and information commissioners. The post of CIC has been lying vacant since September while the eight IC posts have been vacant since November 2023. The functionaries cited above said Gandhi told the meeting that the exclusion of the marginalised communities was done in a systemic manner for appointments to constitutional and autonomous institutions. Another functionary added that many weeks ago, Gandhi had requested details of the caste composition of applicants. It was provided on Wednesday but showed that less than 7% of applicants and only one shortlisted candidate were from scheduled castes. Gandhi had also given dissent notes in the previous two select panel meetings - to pick EC and NHRC....