BJP slams Khurshid over remarks on SC, EC

New Delhi: Lashing out at Union Minister Salman Khurshid, BJP on Friday said his comments questioning the role of Supreme Court and Election Commission were "very dangerous" and asked the two institutions to take suo motu cognisance of the criticism.

BJP also accused the External Affairs Minister and the Congress of denigrating constitutional institutions, saying they have an "undemocratic mindset". "What Salman Khurshid has said is very dangerous and the court and the Election Commission must take cognisance of this," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. "What Salman Khurshid is speaking is not an isolated case and Courts and EC should take suo motu notice of it," he said. On Khurshid and Arvind Kejriwal`s caustic comments about judiciary, EC or the media, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, "Their criticism is not a sign of mature politics." "It is a bit unusual for a senior Minister of the Government to criticize these institutions on the foreign soil," he said, adding that the institutions have contributed to strengthen democracy in India. Accusing Khurshid of following the Congress mindset of belittling these institutions, Javadekar said other Congress leaders have echoed this mindset and have "denigrated" constitutional bodies like CAG, CVC, PAC or JPC. "They have denigrated all the institutions," he charged. Jaitley said victory and defeat are a part of the electoral process and noted that India and its democracy is immortal while men are not. "The prospects of an electoral defeat should not frustrate Salman Khurshid and Arvind Kejriwal into believing that democratic institutions in India have been compromised," the BJP leader said. Speaking on the `Challenges of Democracy in India` at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, Khurshid had said that Election Commission`s Model Code of Conduct made it difficult for parties to win elections. He also criticised the Supreme Court. "The recent instructions that we received from them (EC) interestingly are that our manifesto must be certain that it does not offer the building of roads, because promise of building roads distorts democratic decision-making. "You should also not offer drinking water because that distorts decision-making," the senior Congress leader said. In an apparent reference to the Supreme Court judgement disqualifying convicted lawmakers, Khurshid had said it was "a judge-made law". He had also said that the "broad philosophical approach" of Election Commission guidelines appears to be that "you should do or say nothing that wins you an election".