In an exclusive conversation with India TV, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot spoke on a range of political issues, including the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament.
Gehlot alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha under a conspiracy hatched by the Bharatiya Janta Party as the saffron party feared the rise in his popularity after Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member on March 24, a day after he was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case.
"Rahul Gandhi's membership of parliament was terminated. This was done under a conspiracy," Gehlot said.
When asked the disqualification was a fallout of the court order, how it can be a conspiracy? He explained, "Look at the chronology, first they (BJP leaders) demanded his apology when Gandhi said he will reply in the Parliament, he was denied to speak in the House as the ruling party created a ruckus and he went to request to the Speaker but to no avail, his words expunged in the Parliament, the mic was muted. He was given a sentence of two years. This was unprecedented. No one gets two years sentence in similar cases ever. What do these sequences suggest?"
Claiming that the success of Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' worried the BJP leaders, Gehlot reiterated that democracy is under threat and no one knows in which direction India is heading.
"Indian democracy is moving towards one-party rule which is not a good sign for the coming generation. Narendra Modi is PM today because of the democratic process, I'm also CM because of the same, so democracy must be protected," he elaborated.
OBC row
Defending Rahul Gandhi's 'Modi' comment, Gehlot said he had no intention to insult Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in fact, Gandhi is the person who hugged PM Modi.
"There is no point to insult OBCs. I also belong to the OBC community," he asserted.
"Look at what happened in West Bengal, Bihar and Maharashtra on Ram Navami. There is fear among people in the country and communal harmony is in danger. In Punjab, Amritpal Singh led group is demanding a Sikh nation in the line with some BJP leaders' demand for 'Hindu Rashtra'. It is very dangerous and stringent action must be taken into the matter."
