Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on Vinayak Savarkar saying that it will take him several lives to be like the Hindu nationalist ideologue.
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday made a remark over demands of BJP members seeking his apology and said, "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi. Gandhis don't apologise to anyone". While responding to this, Singh took a jibe at him and asked which Gandhi is he talking about.
Singh said, "He is saying that he is Gandhi, but he should specify which 'Gandhi' he is? The Gandhi that his grandfather was?" "If he hadn't disrespected the court, and had apologised, then this would not have happened." Singh further added that "Savarkar had sacrificed himself for the nation, it's wrong to compare himself with him. It will take Rahul Gandhi many lives to be like Savarkar," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
The Congress leader on Friday got disqualified as a Member of Parliament (MP), a day after the Surat court sentenced him to prison in a defamation case over his remarks on the 'Modi' surname.
Court's verdict came regarding the remark he made in April 2019 in Karnataka's Kolar where he said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" After announcing the verdict, the court also granted bail to Gandhi on a surety and put a stay on the sentence for 30 days so that he could approach the higher courts regarding the matter, reported ANI.
The Congress leader addressed a press conference after being disqualified as an MP in which he said that his disqualification was aimed at distracting people from the real deal viz. Adani row. He said, "Moot question remains who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani shell firms? I will keep asking the question."