New Delhi [India], April 28 : Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday took potshots at the BJP over the "merger" of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, saying that the ruling party at the Centre had serious questions on their integrity till recently and possible ED raids against them will not happen now.
In a post on X, Jairam Ramesh said the decision of Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan to accept the merger of the seven Aam Aadmi Party MPs into the BJP is not at all surprising.
"In fact, the only surprise is that it took so long and was not formally accepted over the weekend. Small mercies make up Indian democracy now. The BJP has hailed these MPs just as the latter have embraced their new home warmly. Till very recently, the BJP had serious questions on their integrity and claimed to have solid evidence on them but all that is now conveniently forgotten," Jairam Ramesh said.
"The ED was raiding some of these MPs until recently but one can bet that those will also come to a stop now. And the ED raids that may well have taken place against some others will of course no longer happen. It is therefore both a surgical strike and a pre-emptive action. Lotus has become Lootus," he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s strength in Rajya Sabha has increased to 113 after Rajya Sabha Chairman approved the merger of Raghav Chadha and six other MPs who quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). AAP now has three MPs in the Upper House of Parliament.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh had petitioned the Rajya Sabha Chairman to disqualify the seven MPs.
The petition challenged the "purported merger" under paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and sought the disqualification of the seven MPs.