 "Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change")
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday alleged that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had defamed India on foreign soil and insulted the country's judicial system and the OBC community.
The union minister targeted the Congress leader over his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case by a Surat court in connection with his "Modi surname" remarks case.
While talking to ANI, Yadav said,"Rahul Gandhi has been continuously insulted the surname of the OBC community. Not only this he has defamed the nation on foreign soil. He is defaming Parliament, the OBC community, and the Judiciary."
"I want to ask no politician has the right to insult the OBC community. Insulting any surname is not freedom of speech. This behaviour of the leader shows Bharat Todo, not Bharat Jodo of the Congress. Congress is questioning the legal decision which has not been done till now by anyobody," Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said.
On Thursday, a Surat court sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark with the Congress leaders rallying in his support.
Rahul Gandhi made the "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" remark in April 2019, at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka.
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The court approved Rahul Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts.
Unnion Minister Yadav said that Rahul Gandhi's behaviour "shows Bharat Todo, not Bharat Jodo. Questioning democracy, insulting OBC community, defaming nation on foreign soil is nature of Rahul Gandhi. Decision is as per law but Congress is questioning the legal decision".
Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the UK triggered a row with several BJP leaders slammed Gandhi and said that he should apologize for his remarks about "maligning the institutions of the country" during his visit to the United Kingdom.
The parliament has seen continuous disruptions since the start of the second part of the budget session on March 13 with the BJP demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi.
In his remarks at Cambridge University in the UK, Gandhi said that everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy "is under pressure and under attack".
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
