Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said that the BJP has hatched a plot against former Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi as he “fearlessly speaks for democracy”. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Congress’s ‘maun satyagraha (silent protest)’ protest.
"A conspiracy is being hatched (by BJP) against someone (Rahul Gandhi) who speaks for democracy and tells the truth. This one-day 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) is being held to make the public aware," Pilot said in Jaipur, Rajasthan. as party observes 'maun satyagraha' against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament following his conviction in a defamation case.
The 2019 defamation case against Rahul Gandhi returned to focus, with the Gujarat High Court last week upholding the sessions court's conviction as "just, proper, and legal". Due to this, the Congress decided to hold the nationwide "maun satyagraha" against the BJP and to show solidarity with Rahul Gandhi.
Earlier, in a statement, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said: "We believe that the truth, and our commitment for the genuine welfare of every Indian, speaks loud and clear, no matter what tactics the BJP-RSS will deploy against us or our leaders. India will not allow such fascist forces to go on for too long."
After the Gujarat HC's judgment, the BJP took a dig at the Congress, saying that the party should keep a check on its leader and should "train Rahul Gandhi to speak properly". "It has become a chronic habit of Rahul Gandhi to abuse, defame, and almost shower the worst kind of abuses against eminent leaders and organisations," BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 had sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a 2019 case filed by BJP Gujarat MLA Purnesh Modi.