BJP criticises Kerala Govt move to approach SC against President Murmu

PTI, Mar 24, 2024, 1:40 PM IST

The BJP on Sunday criticised the Left government in Kerala for its move to approach the Supreme Court against President Droupadi Murmu saying that it reflected the Marxist party’s discrimination towards women and tribal communities.

The CPI(M) has always adopted an ”anti-woman” stand and they had even opposed when Murmu had been nominated to the supreme post of the country, senior party leader and Union Minister V Muraleedharan alleged.

To prove his argument that the Marxist party’s fundamental stand was anti-woman, he said there was no woman member in the Left party’s polit bureau till 2022.

The saffron party’s criticism came a day after the LDF government justified its move to approach the apex Court against Murmu for withholding assent to four bills passed by the state assembly, saying her action has ”significant constitutional implications.” ”If we look back into history, we can understand why the Marxist Party is moving against President Murmu…The innate objection of the CPI (M) leadership towards women is the basic reason for this,” Muraleedharan told reporters here.

He said that it was not for the first time that bills were getting delayed in the country, but it was for the first time that someone is moving against the President.

Muraleedharan also said that the people of the country, who stand for social justice and equality, would oppose any move intended to humiliate President Murmu.

He said it was understood that the Chief Secretary of the state and senior CPI (M) leader T P Ramakrishnan had jointly filed the case against the President.

The minister questioned the legal sanctity of a civil service officer filing a case jointly with a political leader.

The BJP’s statement came a day after the state government filed a plea in the Supreme Court, naming the Union government, the Secretary to the President of India, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, and his additional secretary as parties to the case.

In its plea, the state government requested that the President’s refusal to grant assent to the bills–the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021; the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022; and the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill, 2022– without stating any reason, be declared unconstitutional.

Apart from other reliefs, the state government also sought direction to declare Governor Khan’s action of reserving a total of seven bills, including these four, for the consideration of the President, as ”illegal”.