BJP prejudiced, lacks respect for judiciary: Congress

The Congress Wednesday accused the BJP of "prejudice" against former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam, and said the ruling party lacked respect for the judiciary's independence and impartiality.

"The government action speaks nothing except prejudice," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, alluding to the hasty manner in which Subramaniam's name was segregated from the list of four persons to be made apex court judges.

Singhvi said there are examples galore in the history of Indian politics where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made petty allegations against constitutional bodies or authorities.

"The BJP government had in the past removed a sitting navy chief. The BJP cannot tolerate any dissenting voices. The (Narendra) Modi government does not believe in judiciary's independence and that is evident in the developments of the last one month," he told the media here.

He said that BJP's opposition to Subramaniam stemmed from the fact the latter had approved the appointment of an amicus curiae against Modi.

"Here is a man (Modi) with elephantine memory who neither forgets nor forgives," Singhvi said, hinting that Subramaniam was being targeted deliberately.

He added the BJP believed in politics of "disruption", but that there was "no place for disruption" in the Indian republic.