Conspiracy Brewing Within Congress On Not Approaching Higher Court For Rahul Gandhi: BJP

"Law is equal for everyone," Pradhan said at a media briefing, accusing Gandhi of "abusing" backward castes with his "thieves" remark about the "Modi surname."

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. (File Photo)

The BJP argued on Friday that a conspiracy inside the Congress may have played a part in its leaders' failure to petition a higher court for relief for Rahul Gandhi after his conviction, as it had done in the instance of Pawan Khera, who was arrested by the Assam Police within hours of his detention, news agency PTI reported.

Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur also chastised the Congress for criticising the court decision convicting Gandhi, claiming that the Nehru-Gandhi family has a "feudal mindset" and a "sense of entitlement" because its members believed in a separate set of laws and democratic system for themselves.

"Law is equal for everyone," Pradhan said at a media briefing, accusing Gandhi of "abusing" backward castes with his "thieves" remark about the "Modi surname."

Responding to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's argument that Gandhi was penalised for telling the truth about the Adani-Hindenburg dispute, he wondered if attacking underprivileged and backward populations constitutes speaking the truth.

Both BJP officials said that Gandhi's disqualification was a natural result of the law, citing the Supreme Court's ruling that a legislator is disqualified from the moment of his conviction. According to them, the Lok Sabha speaker has just validated this legal stance.

A day after a Surat court convicted Gandhi in a 2019 criminal defamation case for his comment "How come all thieves have Modi as the same surname?", the Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified Gandhi as MP from Wayanad in Kerala.

"Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat...Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March, 2023," the notification read.

After this, he would be unable to run for office for the next eight years unless a higher court overturned his conviction and imprisonment.

“Now, Mr. @RahulGandhi calls the entire OBC community thieves. He gets a flak in Courts but refuses to apologise, thus showing how deep-rooted his hatred for OBCs is. The people of India did not forgive him in 2019… in 2024, the punishment will be more severe,” BJP Chief JP Nadda tweeted in the morning. 

In another tweet, Nadda stated: “So much for Chowkidar Chor Hai that neither Congress leaders nor Congress allies appreciated this deep slander against PM @narendramodi. In fact, this issue was also taken up in CWC where the senior Congress leaders even supposedly expressed their unhappiness on it.”

So much for Chowkidar Chor Hai that neither Congress leaders nor Congress allies appreciated this deep slander against PM @narendramodi. Infact, this issue was also taken up in CWC where the senior Congress leaders even supposedly expressed their unhappiness on it.

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) March 24, 2023

 “Are Congress party and Rahul Gandhi higher than the law of the country? Is it a national leader’s job to abuse and insult the surname of the OBC society?… I believe Congress party and Rahul Gandhi personally are guilty of hurling abuse at the entire OBC community in the country,” Union minister Bhupender Yadav stated. 

 

Yadav also chastised the Congress for doubting the Surat court decision on Friday. He said that Rahul's conviction was legal and that the Congress leader and his party were unable to accept the judgement because of their "arrogance." He said that this was why Rahul had refused to apologise in court despite several opportunities.