Rahul Gandhi went trained his guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first presser after being disqualified as an MP said the reason behind his expulsion was that Prime Minister Modi was scared of his next speech on Adani and that this was all a ploy to create a distraction for the matter.
"The Prime Minister is scared of my next speech on Adani, and I have seen it in his eyes. That is why, first the distraction and then the disqualification," he said.
Accusing the Centre of trying to defend the Prime Minister in connection with the Adani row, he said, "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."
At his first press conference after being disqualified from the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said he will keep asking questions on the issue involving industrialist Gautam Adani's business empire and will not be scared by disqualification or being put in jail.
The former Congress chief was flanked at the press meet by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel and party general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and KC Venugopal.
Gandhi said the moot question remains who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani shell firms and he will keep asking that question.
"Even if they permanently disqualify me, I will keep doing my job," he added.
The Congress leader also thanked all opposition parties for extending support to him and asserted that going forward, all of them will work together.
He also said attacks are being made on democracy in the country and examples of it keep manifesting from time to time.
Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, nearly 24 hours after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case, an action the Congress slammed as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) "vindictive politics" and vowed to fight against it legally and politically.
The BJP dismissed the charge and termed Gandhi's disqualification "lawful".
The disqualification from the Lok Sabha will bar Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction.