Opposition parties led by the Congress stepped up their criticism of the BJP on Sunday after the ruling party distanced itself from controversial remarks made by its MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma against the Supreme Court (SC) and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).Â
Earlier on Saturday, Dubey—one of the more vocal BJP members in the Lok Sabha—launched a scathing attack on the Supreme Court, claiming that the Parliament and state assemblies should be shut if the apex court had to make the laws. He also took a swipe at CJI Sanjiv Khanna, alleging that the judge was responsible for “civil wars” in the country.
Sharma, a former deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was also critical of the top court, saying no one could direct Parliament or the president.
The BJP disassociated itself from Dubey and Sharma’s criticism of SC, with party president JP Nadda calling the comments their personal views.
“The BJP has nothing to do with the comments of MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the Chief Justice. These are their personal comments, but the BJP neither agrees with them nor does it ever support such remarks. The BJP absolutely rejects them,” he wrote on X.
Nadda also affirmed the ruling party’s respect for the judiciary as an inseparable part of democracy. He said he had directed both the leaders and other members of the party not to make such comments.
However, the Congress on Sunday described the BJP disassociating itself from its MPs’ remarks as “damage control” and asserted that the minimum action against them should be their expulsion from the party.
The opposition party also asked why no action had been taken against the two MPs and why no showcause notices were issued to them.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the distancing of the “outgoing BJP president” from the “atrocious remarks” made by the two MPs on the CJI carried little meaning.
“These MPs are repeat offenders when it comes to hate speech and are very often used by G2 to attack communities, institutions, and individuals. The outgoing BJP president’s clarification is nothing but damage control,” Ramesh wrote on X.
“It will fool nobody. This is Entire Political Science reflecting itself as Entire Political Hypocrisy,” he said.Â
“The Highest Court gave the judgement on the Ayodhya issue, and everyone accepted it; even Muslims accepted that. What Nishikant Dubey is saying shows that Muslims are ready to accept the Supreme Court’s judgement even when the judgement was against them, but people like Nishikant Dubey justify the ideology of the BJP — that they are ready to go against the Supreme Court,” Bharadwaj told ANI.
Criticising Dubey, JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said that the dictatorship in the country has reached such a level where a parliamentarian is now seen challenging the courts.
“The dictatorship in the nation has reached such a level that now a member of parliament is challenging the court… Are these people more learned than the judges? Will they do anything in the darkness of the majority, and will the courts stay silent?… When the courts give decisions in their favour, they say that the judiciary is the third pillar of democracy,” Pandey told ANI.
He also termed the remarks unfortunate and urged the court to take action against the BJP MP from Jharkhand.
