 "Congress 'Sankalp Satyagraha', Priyanka mount defence for Rahul Gandhi")
Raising the pitch against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Congress held protests across the country on Sunday, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing the government of “trying to silence” a “martyr’s son” for raising the voice of people.
Countering the BJP’s charge that Rahul Gandhi insulted OBCs with his remark for which he has been convicted in a criminal defamation case, Priyanka Gandhi asked how a leader whose family has “given its blood to nurture democracy” and who has walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with a message of unity could insult the country or a community.
“We have remained silent but not anymore,” she said, alleging that the Prime Minister and other BJP leaders have repeatedly insulted her family members but no cases were filed against them.
The BJP, however, slammed the Congress and asked if it was agitating against the country’s Constitution or the law under which Rahul Gandhi was convicted or to justify his remarks against the entire backward community.
Kharge, who led the “Sankalp Satyagraha” protest outside Delhi’s Raj Ghat after the police refused permission to hold it at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial, asked why the BJP was feeling hurt if fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi were being criticised.
With several other parties condemning the government, Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the issue had brought the Opposition together and this unity would grow as days go by.
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday changed his bio on Twitter to describe himself as a “Dis’Qualified MP”, on his official Wayanad account. Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat’s Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. The disqualification will prevent Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting elections for eight years unless a higher court stays the conviction.