‘Opposition parties don’t support morality in public life’: BJP

The BJP on Monday criticised opposition political parties for opposing the recently introduced Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill in Parliament, saying “they don’t support morality” in public life.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, BJP’s national spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, said the opposition parties don’t support “morality but nirlajjta (shamelessness)”.

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“When the whole country has welcomed it, only a handful of opposition parties are openly saying that they do not stand with morality but with shamelessness. They say, ‘Hum toh nirlajjta ke Saath, Hum toh Power ke Saath’, Poonawalla told media persons.

They, he said, even boycotted the Joint Parliamentary Committee over the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill.

Meanwhile, the parties that are opposing the bill, which mandates the removal of Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers, and other ministers if jailed for serious offences, are of the view that it was introduced with the intention to target opposition leaders.

Taking an indirect dig at former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the BJP leader said that they ran the government from Tihar jail for 150 days and now want to bring a revolution in politics.

In March 2024, Kejriwal was arrested in connection with the excise policy and had to go to jail. Kejriwal didn’t resign from his post before he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in September.

Later, the AAP convenor stepped down from his post after coming out of jail, and Atishi was sworn in as Delhi’s Chief Minister.

“Some are even boycotting the JPC formed for this bill. They sat with those people whom the BJP wanted to see in Tihar. They say the government should be run from Tihar, and they did the same. They ran the government from Tihar for 150 days. They came to bring a revolution in politics, and look at them now,” Poonawalla said.

He further said that the opposition has developed a new model of working, and that is working from jail.

“During COVID, all of us used to work from home. Now they want this concept of work from jail. Is it practical for a CM to hold meetings from jail?” he asked, saying it was not practical.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed the political parties opposing the bill, saying, “I want to ask the entire nation and the Opposition, can a Prime Minister, Chief Minister, or any leader run the country from jail? Does that suit the dignity of our democracy?”