Patna, July 12: Several lawmakers of the state reacted sharply on the Supreme Court poll bar on candidates in jail on a day the Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar, stressed on clean image of politicians.

“It is important that people with clean image enter politics. People having the vision and the thought of (former chief minister) SN Sinha should come forward to join the politics. Politics and democracy should not be attacked and harassed,” Meira said, speaking at a programme organised to mark the 97th birth anniversary of former chief minister SN Sinha at SK Memorial Hall a day after the Supreme Court ruled that only an “elector” could contest the polls and he or she ceases the right to cast vote due to confinement in prison or being in custody.

Several lawmakers of Bihar reacted sharply on the Supreme Court verdict, though. Most of them believe that the latest verdict would be misused by the powerful for their vested interest.

Former BJP minister Giriraj Singh seemed very disappointed with the verdict and said it would murder the democracy. “First of all, the court needs to define the social and political crime. At present, both come under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). You cannot just debar anyone because he/she is detained by the police. This will led to misuse by the ruling parties for their vested interest,” he said.

“People like Nitish Kumar can use this verdict in the best way by using his power. The candidates can be detained just before they file their nomination. I am afraid that it (the verdict) will affect the democracy on a larger scale in coming days.”

Not only the BJP lawmakers, even JD(U) MLA from Karakat Assembly seat in Rohtas district Rajeshwar Raj did not welcome the verdict. “Unless a person is convicted by the court, how can he/she be held guilty for the crime? However, I welcome the first verdict in which the court has talked about the disqualification of the lawmakers but the latest one is not satisfactory.”

JD(U) leader and former member of Assembly Ranvir Yadav, convicted in a murder case, also slammed the verdict.

“The judgment of the Supreme Court will make the police more ruthless and powerful. Even the judiciary would be affected badly. If a survey in conducted in the country, most of the people behind bars would be found innocent, said Yadav, whose wife Poonam Devi is an MLA from Khagaria, a seat he formerly represented.

The RJD Rajya Sabha MP, Ram Kripal Yadav, refused to speak on the issue for obvious reasons.

He said: “No RJD worker or even leader will speak on the issue.”

Apart from the party chief, Lalu Prasad, who is charged in the fodders scam, RJD MP Prabhunath Singh is facing trial for the murder of an MLA in the mid-1990.