New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud's home for Ganesh Chaturthi has given rise to political wrangling after BJP countered the Congress’ charge, citing an Iftar party, hosted by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which then Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan attended.
It all began after photos emerged on Thursday showing PM Modi taking part in the ritual at Chief Justice DY Chandrachud’s residence, which quickly provoked widespread criticism including from the Opposition party, the Congress.
Thus cornered, the BJP later hit back with the photo of the Iftar party hosted by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh where then Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan attended.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla shared a photo of both meetings alongside saying that attending Ganesh puja was no crime, adding that ‘Congress ecosystem attacks Supreme Court like Rahul Gandhi in the past,’ according to NDTV.
Following this, the Congress’ Mumbai unit retorted with a post on X saying that BJP failed to understand the difference between a public event like an Iftar held before media and a private religious ceremony held at someone’s residence away from public scrutiny.
The grand old party also said that ‘Conflating the two is misleading’, adding that it points at the ‘lack of understanding of issues of transparency and propriety in separation of powers.’
Several Opposition parties came down heavily on the PM Modi’s visit to CJI’s home with Sanjay Raut, a close associate of ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav, urging the Chief Justice to rescue himself from hearing the Shiv Sena faction case.
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said those who praised PM Modi for attending Iftar parties now ‘find their guts twisting and turning’ at seeing him attending the Ganesh puja.