The Congress on Friday protested in front of Ambedkar’s statue on the Parliament premises against the suspension of its Lok Sabha leader Adhir Chowdhury, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge declaring that the Constitution was being destroyed by the Narendra Modi government.

Chowdhury’s suspension has much bigger ramifications than action against an ordinary MP because he heads the most important instrument against the government — the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The PAC not only examines the government’s expenses but also scrutinises Comptroller and Auditor General of India reports. Chowdhury
will not be able to attend PAC meetings during the time of his suspension, prompting Kharge to allege murder of democracy.

Asserting that Parliament was not being run according to rules, Kharge said at a protest by INDIA allies: “All rules and regulations are being set aside and the government is trying to threaten and intimidate every Opposition MP. It was for the first time that a member was suspended and the matter was referred to the Privileges Committee afterwards. The timing of Chowdhury’s suspension was deliberate. He is the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and his suspension would mean that he would not be able to participate in PAC meetings on CAG reports, which expose the government’s irregularities.”

The Congress also drew attention to another issue that is fundamentally linked to the survival of democracy, which is the appointment of election commissioners. This has become a major controversy after the Modi government on Thursday introduced a bill in the Rajya Sabha seeking to replace the Chief Justice of India with a Union cabinet minister in a panel that was to be set up on the order of the Supreme Court to select the Chief Election Commissioners and the election commissioners.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh cited a letter written by BJP veteran L.K. Adani to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointing to the need for
selecting election commissioners through a bipartisan system.

Ramesh tweeted: “To select the CEC and the Election Commissioners, the Committee Advani proposed comprised of the CJI along with leaders of the Opposition from both Houses of Parliament. The CEC Bill brought by the Modi Government is not only against what Advani proposed but also overturns a 5-judge Constitution bench judgment from March 2, 2023.”

The Supreme Court had said: “In order to allow independence in the functioning of the Election Commission as a constitutional body, the office of the Chief Election Commissioner as well as the election commissioners have to be insulated from executive interference.”

Ramesh weighed in: “But the bill brought by the Government will ensure executive interference with its 2:1 dominance of the Committee. This coming from the Modi Government in an election year further cements the view that Modi wants to ensure control over the Election Commission.”

Advani’s letter written on June 2, 2012, said: “There is a rapidly growing opinion in the country which holds that appointments to Constitutional bodies such the Election Commission should be done on a bipartisan basis in order to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness.”