Insulting institutions won’t strengthen democracy: Rijiju

New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the INDIA bloc MPs’ protest against the Election Commission, urging him to “stop this drama” and learn from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP workers. Reacting to the protest, Rijiju said the Congress and Rahul Gandhi had been repeatedly attacking institutions such as the Election Commission and the Supreme Court.

“The time has come to put an end to the daily drama orchestrated by the Congress party—specifically Rahul Gandhi and his associates—who constantly attack institutions like the Election Commission and the Supreme Court,” Rijiju said. He questioned how long such a situation would continue, saying, “This drama has been ongoing since 2014; how long will it continue?”

Rijiju said that in a democracy, serving people earns a political mandate. He alleged that when the Opposition failed to secure such a mandate, it attacked the Election Commission. He also referred to the Supreme Court and said that when the court asks for an apology, the Opposition then attacks the court and says it has no faith in it.

Rijiju said the Congress had labelled the Election Commission and the government as “thieves”. “Such behaviour will neither strengthen democracy nor lead to a resurgence of the Congress party,” he said.