Rahul Gandhi News Highlights: Ex-Wayanad MP only indulges in misleading the country, alleges BJP

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday asserted that no attempts were made to seek a stay on the magistrate court’s verdict to encash Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
"Rahul’s utterances on Modi’s surname were abusive, not critical and the BJP is going launch a stir against his insult to OBCs," said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad while addressing a press conference in Patna. 

"You have the right to criticise. You don’t have the right to abuse and insult. He (Rahul Gandhi) abused and insulted (a backward community) in a public meeting. The court gave him a chance to apologise. He said he won’t apologise," he added. 

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Condemning the act of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, Tharoor told PTI that this issue, in the end, was going to be beneficial for the opposition parties and to Gandhi. "This has resulted in a few unintended consequences for the BJP," Tharoor said, adding the incident had laid bare Indian democracy throughout the world.

"In every capital, there are headlines about what has happened to Rahul Gandhi. Secondly, they have also created a level of opposition unity that did not exist before," Tharoor said. The Thiruvananthapuram MP said even the regional parties that were "ferociously opposed" to the Congress in their states had now come out in favour of Gandhi and condemned the act as an assault on democracy.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegations, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that the former Wayanad MP tried to make false statements and refrained from speaking on the subject. Rahul Gandhi has been punished for his speech in 2019. Today he said that 'I speak thoughtfully' which means whatever Rahul Gandhi said in 2019, it was spoken thoughtfully: BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he was not Veer Savarkar and will not apologise. "I am a Gandhi and not Savarkar and Gandhis do not apologise," he said at a press conference a day after his expulsion from Parliament following his conviction in a defamation case.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that PM Narendra Modi is scared of his next speech on Adani. Gandhi also said that he will keep doing his work even if he is disqualified permanently as an MP. "I will keep doing my work. it does not matter if I am inside the Parliament or not. I will keep fighting for the country," he added. 

Taking a dig at the central government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised the Adani issue and asked who's money is in Adani-owned shell companies. "This is the whole drama that is been orchestrated to defend the Prime Minister from the simple question- Who's Rs 20,000 crore went to Adani's shell companies? I am not scared of these threats, disqualifications or prison sentences," he added. 

A day after his disqualification, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi vows to fight for democracy in the country. "I had asked only one question on Adani... I will continue to ask questions and fight for democracy in India. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he will not stop and keep questioning the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adani. "My speech made in Parliament was expunged, and later I wrote a detailed reply to the Lok Sabha Speaker. Some ministers lied about me, that I sought help from foreign powers. But there is no such thing I have done. I will not stop asking questions, I will keep questioning the relationship between PM Modi and Adani," Gandhi added. 

Addressing the press conference, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised the Adani issue once again and said that the democracy in the country is under attack. "I have said several times before that democracy is being attacked in the country. We are seeing examples of this each day. I asked questions in the Parliament regarding the relationship between PM Modi and Adani. I wanted to ask more questions but the Lok Sabha Speaker did not allow me to speak," 

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said that his brother Rahul is being attacked for speaking the truth and raising the Adani issue. "When the public servant elected by the public asked questions on behalf of the public, Adani-servant conspired to suppress the voice of the public servant. But the voice of the public cannot be suppressed. These questions will now resonate across the country and will have to be answered," he wrote on Twitter. 

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal took a swipe at two BJP ministers for accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of insulting OBCs with his "Modi surname" remark in 2019, saying they were "insulting" people's intelligence by making such an "absurd allegation".

Enraged over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case, party members in Madhya Pradesh staged a massive protest. The Congress workers across Madhya Pradesh, holding party's flags, took out rallies on roads, blocked traffic and raised slogans against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Reacting to the Congress' allegations against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that Rahul is the "epitome of unparliamentary behaviour" and that today people of Wayanad have got rid of him. He also said: "A member of the Lok Sabha for so long, from 2009 to 2014. Never been able to ask questions for Amethi in five years. Participated in only 21 debates in all these years. This in itself tells about them. Rahul Gandhi thinks he is above the government, law and people of India."

Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday said the "arbitrary" disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha was not in the interest of a healthy democracy and was against the principle of natural justice. Punjab Congress leaders also hit out at the BJP with Leader of Opposition in the state Partap Singh Bajwa saying the disqualification was a "new low in Indian politics.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress held a silent protest in Srinagar against the BJP’s "vendetta politics" and decried Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha. J&K Congress President Vikar Rasool Wani and scores of Congress workers staged their protest at Shaheedi Chowk in Jammu outside party headquarters wearing black badges and masks to condemn its leader's disqualification.

The Congress has announced a nationwide agitation against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification, alleging that the government acted with lightning speed to "gag" him, and called for taking forward the opposition unity in a systematic manner. The grand old party has decided to launch a "Jan Andolan" across the country on March 27. 

Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha has triggered a massive political row with the BJP stating that Congress leader was "a habitual loose cannon" and the Congress alleging that he was got "deliberately disqualified". While Congress leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge rallied behind Rahul Gandhi, opposition leaders including Mamata Banjerjee, K Chandrashekar Rao, MK Stalin, Hemant Soren, Arvind Kejiwal, Sharad Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray and Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP-led government.