SY Quraishi was not election commissioner but ‘Muslim commissioner’: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey
NEW DELHI, April 20: The Congress on Sunday described the BJP disassociating itself from the criticism of the Supreme Court by its MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma 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 show-cause 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 two MPs on the chief justice of India (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 said in a post on X.
“It will fool nobody. This is Entire Political Science reflecting itself as Entire Political Hypocrisy,” he said.
But the “outgoing BJP president” is totally silent on equally unacceptable remarks on the judiciary that are continually made by one of its very distinguished appointees to a high constitutional position, Ramesh said and asked what he had to say about those remarks and if the BJP subscribed to them.
The former Union minister further asked, “If the continued silence of the prime minister on these repeated attacks on the Indian Constitution is not tacitly supportive of them, why has no action been taken against these two MPs? Has Nadda ji issued show cause notices to these two MPs?”
Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said on X, “I have my doubt regarding the statement of BJP President Shri J P Nadda ji. The BJP ecosystem especially those who are close to Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are hell bent on tarnishing the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India.” They are unhappy with the direction of the Court in recent decisions related to Tamil Nadu and Waqf Amendment Act, he claimed.
“The RSS-BJP want to turn India into North Korea-Iraq,” Gogoi alleged.
The BJP on Saturday disassociated itself from Dubey and Sharma’s criticism of the Supreme Court, with party president Nadda calling the comments their personal views.
Nadda also affirmed the ruling party’s respect for the judiciary as an inseparable part of democracy.
“The BJP has nothing to do with the comments of MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the chief justice. This is their personal comments but the BJP neither agrees with them nor does it ever support such remarks. The BJP absolutely rejects them,” Nadda had said in a post on X.
He said he had directed both the leaders and other members of the party not to make such comments.
DUBEY ATTACKS EX-EC
After causing an uproar with his remarks against the Chief Justice of India, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Sunday fired a salvo at S Y Quraishi, saying he was not an election commissioner but a “Muslim commissioner”, after the latter criticised the Waqf (Amendment) Act as a “sinister and evil plan of the government to grab Muslim lands”.
Quraishi is a former Chief Election Commissioner of India.
Dubey’s religious barb at the former CEC came a day after his vitriolic attack on the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, blaming him for “religious wars” in India, forced the BJP to reject his criticism and distance itself from the controversial remarks.
Quraishi had alleged on X on April 17, “Wakf Act is undoubtedly a blatantly sinister evil plan of the govt to grab Muslim lands. I’m sure SC will call it out. Misinformation by the mischievous propaganda machine has done its job well.” The BJP MP chose to react on Sunday.
Dubey said, “You were not an election commissioner, you were a Muslim commissioner. The maximum number of Bangladeshi infiltrators were made voters in Santhal Pargana in Jharkhand during your tenure.
“Prophet Muhammad’s Islam came to India in 712. This land (Waqf) before that belonged to Hindus or tribals, Jains or Buddhists associated with that faith.” Dubey said his village Vikramshila was burnt down by Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1189 and that the Vikramshila University gave the world its “first vice chancellor” in Atish Dipankar.
He added, “Unite this country, read history. Pakistan was created by dividing it. There will be no partition now.” Dubey is a fourth-term Lok Sabha MP from Godda in Jharkhand. (PTI)