New Delhi, March 25
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his disqualification from the Lok Sabha was the biggest weapon Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given in Opposition’s hands and declared that he would keep asking questions about the “PM-Adani” relationship no matter what happens.
“Disqualify me for life but I will keep asking questions about this old relationship between PM and Gautam Adani. Adani has shell companies in which Rs 20,000 cr is invested. Whose money is it?”
Gandhi said at a press conference today speaking for the first time since he was disqualified from Lok Sabha membership after two-year sentence in a defamation case by a Surat court.
Refusing to comment on whether he would challenge the conviction, Gandhi said “my legal team will answer that” and added “I don’t care whether I am in Parliament or not. My mission is to speak the truth and I will continue with my Tapasya and go to the people.”
Gandhi also countered BJP charge that he is an anti-OBC saying that “they will distract attention from everything. They will talk about OBCs, the nation but I am not scared of them. They don’t know me. That’s not my history.”
Gandhi said he had been disqualified “because the PM is terrified of the next speech he would make about Adani.”
Refusing to apologise as asked by BJP for his London remarks on India’s democratic decline Gandhi restarted his charge that “democracy has ended in India and all institutions stand compromised” and said, “I am Rahul Gandhi, not Rahul Savarkar. A Gandhi does not apologise to anyone.”
He said he would soon start his Bharat Jodo Yatra and meet people to tell them the truth about Adani.
“At a time when all inductions are under pressure, the only option before the Opposition is to go to the people. That’s what I will do,” he said.
Gandhi also said the PM was in panic and “has given in the Opposition hands the biggest weapon (of his disqualification).”
He said even if he is disqualified for life, he will keep raising questions.
Gandhi also plans to write a letter to the people of Wayanad, the constituency he represented until his disqualification.
Wayanad seat is now technically vacant, with the Election Commission legally bound to declare by elections within six months.
The Congress plans to challenge Gandhi’s conviction in a higher court but was tight lipped about timelines of appeal.
The Congress is arguing that a two-year sentence for defamation is very harsh, that the Surat court had no jurisdiction in the matter of alleged defamatory contents spoken in Karnataka’s Kolar in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha polls; that the defamation case could only have been filed by people specifically claiming to be hurt by certain comments.
Gandhi’s remarks that landed him a jail term are “How come all thieves have Modi surname.”
The BJP has attacked Rahul as anti-OBC and anti-poor and said “he is feudalistic and thinks himself to be above the law.”
