NEW DELHI: Noting that there cannot be any ‘if & buts’ on the issue of morality, as it should be universal like the Sun and the Moon, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday asserted that given recent behaviour of a few political leaders, a need was felt to legally enforce it in public life by disallowing persons from holding constitutional posts of Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and Ministers while being lodged in jail.
Talking to a news agency, the Home Minister also raised questions over Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s moral stance, asking if it has changed after losing three consecutive elections.
Referring to a 2013 incident, Shah said that Rahul Gandhi had ‘torn’ an ordinance brought by the then PM Manmohan Singh-led government to benefit RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav taking a high moral ground and wondered as to why the Congress leader has now been opposing the bills debarring PM, CMs and ministers sticking to the post even after being arrested and jailed.
Accusing the opposition for wanting to “run the government from jail”, Shah said, during former PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure, the opposition is trying to shield the PM and even in the present day, they are trying the same thing. “The jail will be made CM House, PM House and the DGP, Chief Secretary, Cabinet Secretary or Home Secretary will take orders from the jail. Can a country be run this way, Shah asked.
The ordinance was previously promulgated to give convicted lawmakers a three-month relief to retain their seats, a move that was allegedly brought in after Lalu Prasad Yadavs conviction in the Fodder Scam case. The ordinance effectively negated the SC’s order on the disqualification of convicted MPs and MLAs and was later withdrawn.
Noting that at the core of the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, is to instill morality in public life, Shah asked if it was “fair” to allow anyone holding constitutional posts to run the government from jail.
The Home Minister also revealed that in the original scheme of things, PM was not covered under the law, but “Modiji himself insisted that PM should also be covered and thus the provision was incorporated”. He said, “Is there such a belief in this country that the country will not run without the person sitting in the post? Your party has the majority, so someone from your party will come and run the government.”
Recalling his resignation from the post of Gujarat Home Minister, Shah said he did so the very next day the CBI summoned him in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. He also asserted that he did not hold any constitutional post until he was proved innocent.