Rahul Gandhi Disqualification: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on Saturday address a press conference at AICC headquarters in Delhi at 1 PM. This will be the first full-fledged address by Gandhi since his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP on Friday. This came after a Surat court on Thursday held Rahul Gandhi guilty in the criminal defamation case for his ‘Modi Surname’ remark in 2019 during the Lok Sabha polls campaign. While opposition parties led by Congress intensified their attack on the BJP-led Centre, the latter maintained that Gandhi was sentenced as per law.
If Rahul Gandhi does not get relief in his appeal, forget about 2024, he will lose eight years before he could even contest any polls. The Lok Sabha website shows three seats including Jalandhar, Lakshadweep and Wayanad as vacant.
As per legal experts, since it’s a criminal case, Rahul Gandhi cannot directly approach the high court or Supreme Court. He would first have to appeal in the Gujarat Sessions Court and then Gujarat High Court.
The Congress party is preparing to challenge the decision both legally and politically.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted a video of Rahul Gandhi asking questions on Adani issue in Lok Sabha and wrote in caption, "Rahul Gandhi is being attacked for these questions. When the public servant elected by the public asked questions on behalf of the public, Adani-servant conspired to suppress the voice of the public servant."
"But the voice of the public cannot be suppressed. These questions will now resonate across the country and will have to be answered," she further said.
Meanwhile, the workers of Madhya Pradesh Congress are protesting in Bhopal with locks tied on masks they're wearing to show 'their voices are being silenced' on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification. Whereas, BJP leaders are staging agitation against Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra
Reacting to Congress' allegations that Rahul Gandhi was disqualified because he was vocal on Adani row, former Union Minister Prakash Javdekar told ABP News that it was the court that gave the verdict, and not the Central government.
On the same issue, former Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad told ABP News that the action against Rahul Gandhi has been taken as per the law.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav reacted and said, "National parties always insulted regional parties. First, it was done by Congress and now BJP does this...This is a chance for them (Congress), they should keep the regional party forward and then fight in the elections then only they can win against BJP. This is the responsibility of Congress."
JDU National President Rajeev Ranjan (Lalan) Singh alleged that the Centre has an active role in the entire development. He said, "The manner in which the decision has been taken regarding Rahul Gandhi within 24 hours shows that the central government is in desperation."
He added, "There is a process of democracy, the decision of the court goes to the Election Commission. Then it goes to the Speaker through the Election Commission. The entire process was done in 10 hours which shows that the central government is actively involved in this."