NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Centre, calling former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s abrupt departure a “political exit camouflaged as a constitutional lie,” and accused the government of playing “petty politics” over judicial accountability.
Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi questioned the Union government’s decision to ignore an Opposition-backed impeachment motion in the Rajya Sabha against Justice Yashwant Varma while moving ahead with a similar motion in the Lok Sabha.
“This is typical of the BJP’s double standards and yet another example of the Modi Sarkar’s theatre of the absurd,” Singhvi said.
“The BJP's game of motions is less about law and more about optics. And how petty a dance to distract and dominate our House Lok Sabha first and not Rajya Sabha, and out you go, Vice President.”
Singhvi alleged that Dhankhar’s show of “minimal independence” may have led to his unceremonious exit.
“The best way to describe ex-Vice President Dhankhar’s departure: a political exit camouflaged as a constitutional lie,” he said. He also targeted the government for its silence on the pending motion against Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, whom Opposition MPs allege delivered a hate speech last year.
“Why this selective outrage on Justice Varma and complete silence on Justice Yadav?” Singhvi asked. “Is this not the worst example of doublespeak and hypocrisy?”
The Congress leader said the government's decision to not allow both Houses to jointly constitute a statutory inquiry committee, as mandated by law, “potentially gives Justice Varma legal grounds to challenge the process.”
“This isn’t about one judge or two judges, or one Vice President. It’s about the very architecture of our democracy,” Singhvi said. “No institution is safe, not Parliament, not the judiciary, not even the Chair of the Upper House.”
He called on the government to rise above partisan politics. “Think less of the limelight and more of constitutional principle,” Singhvi said, adding, “You’ve committed institutional sabotage by not allowing both Houses to act in unison, as envisioned by Parliament.”