New Delhi: The Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) and NDA ally, led by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday issued an ultimatum to the Narendra Modi government for removal of the National Green Tribunal Chairman AK Goel and restoration of the stringent measures of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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LJP MP and Minister’s son, Chirag Paswan, said the BJP should remember that the LJP’s alliance with the ruling party was issue-based.
Days after he wrote to Prime Minister Modi telling him the August 9 protests planned by ‘Dalit and tribal organisations to press for their demands would be more aggressive than the April 2 stir. He criticised the Modi government’s ‘blatant’ decision to appoint Justice Goel (retd) as NGT Chairman.
Justice Goel was one of the two judges on the Supreme Court panel which on March 20 laid down stringent safeguards, including provision for anticipatory bail and a preliminary inqurry before registration of a case under the SC/ST Act.
The LJP has been demanding for over four-months now, an ordinance to restore the original provisions of the Act, but the government while making all the right noises has failed to act. “We have been patient for a long time. Now our patience is running thin,” said Chirag Paswan while talking to media.
In the Parliament and in letter our leaders raised the issue and demanded bill against this ruling.
“Won’t quit like TDP’ The LJP, however, is not quitting the NDA like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) did. We believe it is far simpler for us to fight for our demands while remaining in the government,” Paswan said.
He said his party will wait till August 9 for the government to act. He did not spell out his party’s move if the government did not. “We will cross the bridge when we come to it,” he said.
“Before joining the alliance we had a meeting with then BJP president Rajnath Singh who gave us an assurance that the government will not take any anti-Dalit step,” he added.
The LJP, which has six MPs in the Lok Sabha, draws its core support from the Dalits in Bihar.
