Confession that agencies acting at his behest: Sibal on Modi's 'jail' barb at Tejashwi

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his veiled 'jail' swipe at Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, and claimed that this was a "confession" that probe agencies were acting at the PM's behest.

Sibal also came down hard on Modi for his 'mujra' remark and said even though this was a violation of the model code of conduct, no one, including the Election Commission of India (ECI), will act as they are "hand in glove".

The prime minister has stated in his speeches that the INDIA bloc will take away water taps, electricity, money from banks and also taken a 'mujra' jibe, the former Union minister said at a press conference in New Delhi.

"He is sitting in a high office that has dignity. If you reduce the dignity of the PM's post to such a level...look at what is being said on social media. It is an insult to women also," Sibal said, about the 'mujra' remark.

"What do you want to say? You are insulting women, you are insulting opposition leaders. If you are giving this message from the top, the same will happen further down. So you want to create a culture of hate," the Independent Rajya Sabha MP said, adding that "you cannot build Vksit Bharat like this".

"I know the Election Commission will do nothing even though I think this is a violation of the model code of conduct. But nobody will do anything about it because they are hand in glove," Sibal said.

He also recalled that the PM has given the guarantee that once the election is over, Tejashwi Yadav will be sent to jail. "How can he send Tejashwi to jail? There is a legal process. This means that the law is working on his directions. How does he know? I have been saying probe agencies are working at his behest. This is a confession. To what kind of level have our democratic processes fallen?" Sibal asked.

Earlier, in a post on X, Sibal said, "Modi: On Tejaswi, another guarantee to the people of Bihar: ''Once he completes his rounds on the helicopter, his road to jail will be decided'. My take: 1) Violation of MCC 2) Confession that agencies act on his bidding 3) ECI will not act 4) No nation deserves this."

Addressing a rally in Karakat on Saturday, Modi had said: "Main aaj Bihar ke logon ko ek aur guarantee de raha hoon. Jinhone Bihar ke garibon ko lootkar naukri ke badle me zamin likhwayi hai, kaan kholkar sun lo, unka bhi jail jaane ka countdown shuru ho chuka hai. Yeh jaise hi helicopter mein chakkar marne ka unka samay pura hoga, jail ka raasta tay ho jayega (today, I am giving one more guarantee to the people of Bihar. Those who looted the poor to get land registered in lieu of jobs should listen carefully, their countdown for going to jail has begun. Once he completes his rounds on the helicopter, his road to jail will be finalised)."

At his press conference, Sibal also released a chart for counting agents of political parties to ensure that there has been no tampering with EVMs, and said they must check the time on the machines as to when the machine was opened, which should be on 4 June.

He also urged people to match total votes with counted votes. "Result button should not be pressed until all the figures are tallied. All political parties and counting agents should follow the procedure," he said. "A lot of people say there is a possibility of these machines being tampered so we are trying to ensure that there is no tampering."

After six phases of the Lok Sabha polls, Sibal said the mood of the nation is in favour of change, but the mood of the political party in power is that there must be no change.