MPs who help BJP get two-thirds majority to be 'murderers of democracy': Sibal

New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) Ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday said that MPs who help the BJP garner a two-thirds majority, which would allow it to change the Constitution, would be "murderers of democracy" whose names would be written in black in history. He also urged political parties to come together to thwart the ruling party's efforts. The Independent Rajya Sabha MP asserted that if the BJP is unable to garner a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha to get the Constitution amendment bills passed, it would not be in power in 2029; however, if it succeeds, the opposition would never be able to come to power. "I want to mention at this point how important this session of Parliament is. I say this in the context of what has been happening over the last few months, as to how 20 MPs of the Trinamool Congress broke away. "Allegedly, the MPs merged with another party because of the manipulation of interpretations by the BJP leaders, who think that Schedule 10, Paragraph 4 allows them to do it. Now they are sitting as MPs of that regional party, which had no presence in Parliament before," Sibal said at a press conference here. The BJP has taken MPs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and is now trying to do the same with other parties, Sibal claimed, recalling how seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs switched sides to the BJP, which had zero MPs from Punjab earlier. "Why is this being done? Because they know how important this session is for the BJP. Why is it important? Because they believe that if you can buy off people, if you can ensure these kinds of defections, which are per se illegal, you can perhaps muster up the two-thirds majority pursuant to which they can do anything they want," Sibal said. The ruling party can then bring the Women's Reservation Bill according to its will, and not as the opposition wants, on the present strength of Parliament, Sibal said. "They will then amend the Constitution the way they want because with a two-thirds majority, you can amend any provision. They can do away with the basic structure (of the Constitution). They can do away with the parliamentary form of government. They can ensure that they continue in power in the years to come and never be thrown out of power," Sibal said. "They can reduce the discretion of judges. They can bring laws to ensure that in the future, we have a completely committed judiciary. They can do what they want," he added. According to sources, Sibal met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge here and discussed the upcoming Parliament session, including the reported changes in the Constitution amendment bill involving delimitation. Kharge invited Sibal to the INDIA bloc meeting in Parliament on Monday, which the latter would attend, the sources said. The Monsoon Session of Parliament will commence on Monday (July 20) and continue till August 13. At the presser, Sibal said he wants to remind every MP who votes to help the BJP get a two-thirds majority that each of their names will be written in "black letters" in the years to come, when the history of this session is written, because they would be seen as having "buried democracy". "They would have participated in a process that undoes what the freedom struggle brought us," he said, adding that those MPs would be seen as people who destroyed the foundations of the future of this country. "Therefore, I request the political parties to come together, and the individual MPs to listen to their conscience and not play a game that would allow the BJP to have a free run," Sibal said. The government is likely to table crucial legislations during the Monsoon Session, including a Constitution amendment bill to introduce delimitation and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats, besides one for the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and Union ministers if they are jailed for 30 days or more on serious charges. PTI ASK ARI