Rahul Gandhi Disqualified: The grand old party on Friday left appalled as Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha. A huge shocker for Congress came a day after a Surat court convicted Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 'Modi surname' defamation case. Soon after the Lok Sabha Secretariat announced the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, Congress accused BJP of doing "vindictive politics" and acting with "lightning speed" in disqualifying him.
Congress claimed to launch "Jan Andolan"
Congress of Friday alleged that the ruling dispensation is coming out with new techniques to "gag" Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The party leadership got into a huddle soon after the disqualification was announced by the Lok Sabha Secretariat and decided to fight it legally and politically and launch a countrywide "Jan Andolan" starting Monday.
Congress earlier staged a protest
The Congress also welcomed statements of support by opposition leaders and said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has been coordinating with various parties in Parliament and this coordination will be extended outside Parliament as well. Party MPs earlier staged a protest march till Vijay Chowk and several MPs were detained by the Delhi Police for violation of prohibitory orders and kept at the Kingsway Camp police station before being released in the evening.
Rahul Gandhi's first reaction
In his first reaction after the disqualification, Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, "I am fighting for the voice of India. I am ready to pay any price." His sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched an all-out attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying in a tweet in Hindi, "Narendra Modi ji, your sycophants called the son of a martyred prime Minister a traitor, Mir Jafar. One of your Chief Ministers raised questions as to who is the father of Rahul Gandhi? Following the custom of Kashmiri Pandits, a son wears 'pagdi' after his father's death, maintaining his family's tradition." "Insulting the whole family and the Kashmiri Pandit community, you asked in Parliament why we don't keep the name, Nehru. But no judge gave you a sentence of two years. Did not disqualify you from the Parliament," she said.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the issue of Gandhi's disqualification was both political and legal. "It is a political issue because it signifies the systematic and repetitive emasculation of democratic institutions by the ruling party and the strangulation of democracy itself."
"Rahul Gandhi is praying the price"
He alleged there have been "unthinkable assaults" on the freedom of speech with people being told that they would face the worst possible consequences -- civil, criminal, incarceration, intimidation and harassment. "We all know Rahul Gandhi has been speaking inside and outside Parliament fearlessly. He has spoken on social issues, economic issues, political issues without any fear or inhibition...clearly he is paying the price for it," Singhvi said.
"Centre finding new techniques to gag Rahul Gandhi"
"This government is finding new techniques of throttling his voice, gagging him. Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he is not allowed to speak on grounds of fake nationalism," he alleged, adding, "This is a conspiracy by the BJP against him." After the meet, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told reporters that the party has decided to launch a people's movement, and alleged that the government has acted with lightning speed to "gag" him.
(with inputs from PTI)
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