PoliticsJudiciary
Congress unit deletes post asking CJI to resign; Rijiju says judiciary is next target
The Keralam Congress reacted on X to Chief Justice Surya Kant's remark that the Delhi protests were a law and order matter. The post was later taken down, and the BJP called it an attack on the judiciary.
Key points
- The Congress's Keralam unit told CJI Surya Kant on X to "resign now", then deleted the post.
- It was responding to his remark that the Delhi protests were a law and order issue, not his domain.
- Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said the judiciary is the Congress's next target.
A post by the Congress party’s Keralam unit telling Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to “resign now” was deleted on Monday evening, but not before it drew a sharp response from the BJP on a day the opposition was taking its fight over the Election Commission to his court.
The post, on X, read: “Dear Surya Kant, if law and order is not your domain, resign now. We will find your replacement who can handle it.”
What the Chief Justice said
The Chief Justice was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event marking the National Human Rights Commission’s 33rd anniversary. Asked about the protests in Delhi and the restrictions placed on them, he said: “Ye law and order ka mudda hai. Ye mera vishay nahin hai” (this is a law and order issue, it is not my domain). He added that the “doors of the Supreme Court are open for everybody”.
The question came a day after he declined to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who had sought time to hand him a memorandum on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He told them to file a petition. Earlier on Monday, in court, he said the Supreme Court “should not be dragged into this”.
By evening Gandhi and 10 other opposition leaders had done as he suggested, filing a writ petition against the Election Commission and its three commissioners.
The BJP’s response
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju shared a screenshot of the post before it was taken down. “I had said it earlier, next target of the Congress Party is Judiciary,” he wrote. “Congress wants to destroy all the constitutional and democratic institutions of India.”
He said “all anti-India gangs are joining hands” and called on patriotic Indians to unite in turn.
The BJP’s Keralam unit invoked the Emergency in its own reply on X, telling the Congress to “shut up and get lost”.
Silence from the Congress
The Congress had not explained or disowned the post by Monday night, and did not say who in the state unit had written it. The party’s national leaders spent the day on the streets of central Delhi and at the Supreme Court registry, where their petition seeks a stay on the SIR in all states.
The opposition’s case against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar now goes before the same Chief Justice. He has indicated the court is ready to take up the bloc’s petition on Tuesday if the registry clears it in time.