Oops! Arvind Kejriwal does it again

Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal was at the centre of a controversy for calling MPs “rapists, murderers and looters”, prompting angry criticism from political parties on Saturday with RJD saying it will bring a privilege notice against him in Parliament.

The parties said the “outrageous” remark by Anna Hazare’s close aide was an “insult” to Parliament and it showed that Kejriwal had “no faith” in democracy and the Constitution.

“In this Parliament, 163 members have cases of heinous offences against them. In this Parliament, rapists are sitting, murderers and looters are sitting. How can you expect Jan Lokpal Bill to be passed by Parliament? How can you expect that you can get reprieve from poverty and corruption,” Kejriwal said at an election rally in Ghaziabad, a Delhi suburb, in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

RJD national general secretary Ram Kripal Yadav said Kejriwal has not only insulted the parliamentarians, but Parliament and the electorate as well. The RJD is headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“The RJD will bring a privilege notice during the budget session of Parliament beginning next month,” he said.

“Kejriwal has lost his mental balance and needs to be sent to a mental asylum,” he said in Patna and urged the Centre to immediately arrest him on sedition charges.

Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said the remark was an insult to Parliament and people of the country who elect MPs and MLAs.

Claiming that such comments weaken democracy, he said the media should not give them publicity. “Parliament has a majority of those people, who are willing to do anything for the country. They reach there through hard work. Such statements not only insult the democracy and Parliament, but also insult the people of the country,” he said.

The BJP said the key Team Anna member’s statement was against Indian democracy, Constitution and Parliament and showed their “arrogant” behaviour.

“While trying to portray themselves as honest, some people create the impression that the whole world is dishonest. Such statements show that such people have no faith on Indian democracy, Indian Constitution and Parliament,” BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

Naqvi while accepting that there might be some persons in Parliament with “record”, however, said, “For them you cannot bring an end to our Parliamentary system or end to our democratic set up... Such behaviour is unacceptable.”

Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan criticised Kejriwal’s remarks and said, “It is an attack on democracy... it shows their mentality.”

He also criticised the political parties and their leaders who supported the Team Anna’s cause by sharing the stage with them. “Ask all those who were supporting them by sharing stage with them,” Paswan said in a veiled attack on the BJP and other parties whose leaders supported Team Anna’s movement.