Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati on Saturday said political malice and hatred towards the opposition political parties are not good for the country, reported news agency PTI.
She said this a day after Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament as a member of the Lok Sabha on a four-year-old defamation case against him, in which Gandhi had made some objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname.
Mayawati said, as quoted by PTI, “Political malice, hatred, etc. towards each other have neither benefited the country in the past nor is it going to benefit it in the future.”
Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati also referred to the emergency period.
She took a dig at both the Congress and the BJP, adding that political malice and hatred had not benefited the country in the past and neither will in the future, reported PTI.
Mayawati mentioned that the Congress party must compare and understand what happened during the emergency in 1975 and what is taking place with its leader Rahul Gandhi at present.
In a Twitter thread Saturday, Mayawati said no focus has been given to eliminating poverty, unemployment and backwardness at every level in the country due to the politics of extreme selfishness earlier by the Congress and now by the BJP.
She also said the governments did not work with honesty and integrity in the past 75 years after Independence.
Mayawati added India would have become a truly leading and ideal humanitarian developed country if honest and good work had been done earlier.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from the Lok Sabha after his conviction in a four-year-old defamation case. According to law, if the conviction is not overturned or the quantum of the sentence is not reduced by any higher court, he will not be able to contest elections for the next eight years.
Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 says the moment a member of parliament is convicted of any offence or sentenced for at least two years, he or she attracts disqualification.
In light of the Surat court order and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, the Election Commission can now announce a special election for his Wayanad seat in Kerala or he can challenge the decision in the court.
Following his disqualification as an MP, Rahul Gandhi may also have to vacate his official bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi within a month, if he does not get relief from a higher court in the defamation case.
"As he has been disqualified from Lok Sabha, he is not entitled to a government accommodation. According to rules, he will have to vacate his official bungalow within a month since the date of the disqualification order," an official of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said.