'Failed law min': Oppn hits out after Rijiju moved out of law ministry

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties, including the Congress, took a swipe at Kiren Rijiju who was on Thursday moved from the law ministry to the relatively lower profile Ministry of Earth Sciences, calling him a ''failed law minister''.

In a sudden development, Kiren Rijiju was moved out of the law ministry and replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal. A brief communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan said President Droupadi Murmu, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has reallocated portfolios among ministers in the Union Council of Ministers.

''The portfolio of (the) Ministry of Earth Sciences be assigned to Shri Kiren Rijiju,'' it said.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore described Rijiju, who was routinely vocal against the collegium system of judicial appointments, as a ''failed law minister'' while veteran lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said it was not easy to understand the science behind the laws.

''The failed law minister moves… In Earth Science what he can do? Hope Arjun Ram Meghwal acts in a dignified manner as law minister,'' Tagore said in a tweet.

Sibal, a former law minister, said, ''Not law, now Minister for Earth Sciences. It is not easy to understand the science behind the laws. Now (he) will try to grapple with the laws of science. Good luck my friend!'' Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi dwelt on the possible reasons behind Rijiju being moved to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, wondering if the recent Supreme Court judgment on Maharashtra was a cause.

''Is it because of the Maharashtra judgement embarrassment? Or the Modani-SEBI investigation?'' Chaturvedi asked in a tweet.

In a unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas related to the political crisis that led to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra following a revolt by a Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde in 2022, the apex court said the communication expressing discontent among some MLAs is not sufficient for the governor to call for a floor test. During the hearing on May 11, the top court held that the governor cannot enter the political arena and floor test is not a tool to decide internal party disputes.

The apex court, however, held that the then-governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was right in calling Shinde to form the government because Thackeray had resigned before the floor test. Rijiju was named law minister on July 7, 2021. He got the coveted portfolio following the resignation of senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.