The president of the Maharashtra Congress Nana Patole questioned on Sunday why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not been subjected to a similar punishment for repeatedly criticising Sonia Gandhi and the late PM Rajiv Gandhi, reported news agency PTI. This came in the wake of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case.
He said Rahul Gandhi was being punished for turning into the voice of individuals, and added that his disqualification was against democratic values.
To show their support for Rahul Gandhi, members of the Nagpur District Congress Committee, party workers led by Patole, former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar, and other leaders staged a one-day "Sankalp Satyagraha" protest at the Sanvidhan square.
"Democracy in the country is facing a big threat because of the Modi-led government's autocratic rule. Rahul Gandhi had been constantly raising the issue of fugitive economic offenders Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, who ran away with the country's money. This is what the Opposition does and it is the duty of the government to reply," Patole said in a press conference during the protest.
"The country's prime minister constantly attacked the Gandhi family and their (BJP) ministers insulted former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. They call Rahul Gandhi anti-national, forgetting that he is the grandson of a freedom fighter and son of a martyr. They are targeting members of a family who have sacrificed their lives and this fight is against this mindset of calling a nationalist an anti-national," he alleged.
He claimed that Rahul Gandhi was given a two-year prison sentence for referring to Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi as thieves.
"I want to question why there is no action against PM Modi, who constantly attacks Sonia Gandhi and called Rajiv Gandhi 'chor' (thief)? Why is he not getting this kind of punishment?" he asked.
The Congress leader reported that an enormous rally will be taken out on March 29 against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at different spots across India.
A day after being found guilty of defamation by a court in Surat, Gujarat, Gandhi, who represents the Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, was removed from the Lok Sabha on Friday.
In the defamation case, Gandhi was given a two-year prison sentence over "Modi surname," remarks at a Karnataka election rally in 2019. However, in order to permit him to appeal to a higher court, the court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for thirty days.