Rahul Gandhi was disqualified on Friday, a day after he was found guilty of defamation
New Delhi:
The Congress is holding a day-long satyagraha across the country today to protest party leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
In Delhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are leading the satyagraha even after their protest request at Raj Ghat was turned down by the police in view of law and order and traffic issues,
Delhi Police has increased the security and banned large gatherings around Raj Ghat.
The Congress called Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification a “conspiracy” to silence the leader, who has been dogged in his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has been the de facto head of the main opposition party for nearly a decade.
A combative Rahul Gandhi yesterday hit out at the Prime Minister over his disqualification and used a Veer Savarkar reference to answer why he didn’t apologise over his remarks in London and during the defamation trial in which he was convicted.
“I have been disqualified as the Prime Minister is scared of my next speech. I have seen fear in his eyes. That’s why they don’t want me to speak in the Parliament,” said the Congress leader.
Responding to the BJP’s calls for apology, he said, “My name is not Savarkar. I am a Gandhi. I won’t apologise.”
Mr Gandhi was disqualified on Friday, a day after he was found guilty of defamation by a court in Gujarat for a 2019 campaign trail remark seen as insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billed by the BJP as one that degraded the entire Modi community.
The court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal to a higher court. His lawyers vowed to appeal the verdict in a higher court.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat also declared his constituency in Kerala’s Wayanad vacant. The Election Commission can now announce a special election for the seat.
The disqualification also bars him from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction.
The BJP has said the conviction has come from an independent judiciary, with party president JP Nadda accusing Mr Gandhi of insulting an Other Backward Class (OBC) community – a key vote base for the party.
