Jairam questions BJP leaders' silence on Jaya acquittal

Stating that the BJP should make its views clear with regard to filing of an appeal against the acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wondered why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were silent on the matter.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Saturday, Ramesh said that those who were wondering why Karnataka government hasn’t gone on an appeal against the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court, were using the shoulders of Karnataka government to “shoot.”

He said the original petitioners in the case were BJP leaders and that Modi, Jaitley and even Subramanian Swamy were silent on the  matter. Ramesh said Karnataka was the victim of circumstances as the Supreme Court had made Karnataka the sole prosecuting authority. 

There was a misconception that Karnataka had filed the case against the AIADMK leader, he added.

Internal contradictions

He also said that petitioners in the case must clarify about the internal contradictions in the BJP. “Modi and Jaitley who have a view about everything under the sun, are however quiet on this issue,” he said, adding that AIADMK had 11 MPs in Rajya Sabha, where BJP lacked majority.

Karnataka High Court gave Jayalaithaa a clean chit in the 19-year-old disproportionate case on May 11. Since Karnataka is the sole prosecuting agency, it can file an appeal in the SC. Both Special Public Prosecutor B V Acharya and Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar have opined that the State should go on an appeal.

Modi’s foreign trips

Taking a dig at Modi’s frequent trips, Ramesh termed him as “Super Gagan Vihari.” He said Modi is taking “domestic politics abroad.”

He said former prime ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, V P Singh, Manmohan Singh or Deve Gowda, had never taken domestic politics abroad. “Whether it is Canada, US, China, South Korea or France, Modi continues to be on election mode. That is our primary objection,” added Ramesh.

He also said that Modi rarely participated in the sessions and was bypassing the Parliament. Only five bills of the 53 tabled have been referred to the standing committee, he said. “Instead of maximum governance and minimum government, the Modi government has been demonstrating maximum arrogance and one-man government,” he added.

He also said that Modi was a “master salesman” as he was reselling old schemes like Nirmal Bharat and financial inclusion in the form of Swacch Bharat and Jan Dhan Yojana.