New Constitution amendment bill 'draconian' and 'sinister': Dipankar

Patna, Aug 20 (PTI) CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Wednesday alleged that the Constitution (130th) Amendment Bill was a "draconian" and "sinister" move aimed at harassing parties opposed to the BJP and keeping its own allies on a tight leash.

Addressing a press conference here, Bhattacharya, who has been taking part in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', also dubbed as a "scam" the Election Commission's claim that it has, so far, obtained "zero" claims and objections from political parties against the draft electoral rolls.

The INDIA bloc partner also expressed full support for Justice V Sudarshan Reddy, the opposition coalition's candidate for vice presidential elections, citing the retired judge's "pro-human rights stance", in contrast with the NDA's nominee, who was "an RSS man".

"The bill brought by the Modi government would seek to destabilise any government in a state that is not run by, or supported by, the BJP. It also seems to have the objective of keeping alliance partners on tenterhooks.

"The weaponisation of investigating agencies like ED, CBI, Income Tax department and NIA have already exposed the agenda of this government. Provisions like bringing the Prime Minister under the purview of the bill are just an eyewash. Everybody knows that it is impossible to send the PM behind bars", said Bhattacharya.

Notably, the bill proposes dismissal of Prime Minister, Chief Ministers or any other minister upon having spent 30 days or more in jail in connection with any case.

Bhattacharya, who is also one of the petitioners challenging the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar before the Supreme Court, claimed that the yatra, which will conclude with a rally here on September 1, has received "good response".

He added, "The Election Commission is carrying out a double zero scam. One is the draft electoral rolls showing several voters with their houses numbered zero. The other is its claim that the number of claims and objections filed by political parties, so far, was nil".

"If we speak for just our own party, a claim has been submitted on behalf of Mintu Paswan, whom we had recently produced before the Supreme Court after he was declared as dead in the draft electoral rolls. His claim form was shown to the Chief Electoral Officer here, and it has been duly submitted before officials concerned in Bhojpur district", the Left leader pointed out.

He added, "The EC is asking even those people who may have voted in a recent election, to seek restoration of their names in the draft electoral rolls by filling up Form 6, which is meant for first-time voters. By the EC’s own admission, more than one lakh first-time voters have submitted their documents since August 1. We suspect most of them are actually the ones whose names were wrongfully deleted. The EC is hiding behind technicalities".

Speaking about the vice presidential polls, Bhattacharya frowned upon the NDA choosing "RSS man" C P Radhakrishnan and said, "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is an organisation which had openly criticised Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution. As such, no person with an active link to the organisation should be elected to a top constitutional post".

"In contrast, INDIA bloc's candidate Justice V Sudarshan Reddy has had a stellar record. He was always pro-human rights and was the one who declared Salwa Judum (private anti-naxal militia in Chhattisgarh) as unconstitutional", said Bhattacharya. PTI PKD NAC RG