BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has been at odds with his party on a number of issues. He has openly slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over the economic crisis and more recently over conducting the JEE and NEET examinations amid the pandemic.
On Monday, Swamy wrote a letter to PM Modi and questioned the exclusion of loans to farmers and other vulnerable sections from the Reserve Bank of India's moratorium package.
Earlier, Swamy warned the government that the decision to go ahead with NEET and JEE exams would have grave political costs. "If our Modi Government goes through imposing the NEET/JEE exam now it will be the giant mistake like Nasbandi in 1976 that caused the undoing of Indira government in 1977. Indian voters may suffer silently but have long memories," he tweeted.
“Holding the exam in my opinion you may lead to a large number of suicides in the country," he wrote in a letter to PM Modi.
Meanwhile, suspended Congress leader Sanjay Jha has said that if Swamy had been in the grand old party, he would have been thrown out for 'anti-party activities'. Taking to Twitter, Jha said, "I have often disagreed with Dr Subramaniam Swamy but I like the fact that he speaks his mind out. We need politicians who question everything and everyone, including their own. I find it ridiculous that adult men are expected to be scared of their bosses in politics. Bizarre!"
A Twitter user commented, "And unlike in #Congress he isn't reprimanded for speaking his mind. That's democracy & the way to keep party accountable & on track before it's too late," to which Jha replied, "I agree with that".
In related development, Swamy's criticism of the BJP didn't go down well its party supporters. According to him, "Some of its (party's) members are putting out fake ID tweets to make personal attacks on me." "BJP IT cell has gone rogue," he said and has demanded to sack its IT cell chief Amit Malviya.
(To download our E-paper please click here. The publishers permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
