Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Monday launched a sharp attack on opposition parties for their protests against the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, accusing them of siding with “nirlajjta” (shamelessness) instead of morality.
“When the entire country has welcomed this weapon of morality and good governance, a handful of opposition parties are openly saying they stand not with morality but with shamelessness, with power,” Poonawalla told reporters.
He accused the opposition of boycotting the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Bill because they aligned with leaders who, according to him, should have been in jail. Taking a swipe at former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, he said, “They ran the government from Tihar jail for 150 days and now talk about revolution in politics.”
Kejriwal was arrested in March 2024 in connection with the excise policy case and later stepped down as Chief Minister after being released on bail in September.
Poonawalla further ridiculed opposition leaders for promoting what he called a “work from jail” model, comparing it to “work from home” during the COVID-19 pandemic. He argued that governance from inside prison was neither moral nor practical, asking, “Is it practical for a CM to hold meetings from inside the jail? Where will public hearings be held?”
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also hit out at opposition parties, rejecting their protests against the Bill—dubbed by them as the “Black Bill.” Shah questioned whether it was acceptable in a democracy for a Prime Minister or Chief Minister to govern from jail, stating that the BJP “completely rejects” such an idea.
Parliament has witnessed heated protests over the legislation, with opposition parties calling it unconstitutional and accusing the BJP of attempting to misuse central agencies to target non-BJP leaders.
The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill is set to be examined by a Joint Committee of Parliament comprising members from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.