New Delhi: The Congress party Friday termed Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha as a price he had to pay for the “Adani mega scam” and for the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
It further said that the fight was now between Rahul’s ‘koshish’ (effort) versus PM Modi’s ‘saajish’ (conspiracy).
“It’s clear that the BJP is agitated, scared and tense about the Bharat Jodo Yatra. It’s because the Yatra infused excitement in our cadre and showed a way for the future,” Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said.
Addressing a press briefing at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, Ramesh along with Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi reiterated that Rahul’s conviction by a Surat court and his subsequent disqualification as MP are both legal as well as political issues.
“For months, the BJP was trying to defame the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahulji has had to pay the price for the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Since 2014, Rahulji has been raising his voice against the policies of the Modi government, inside and outside Parliament. The other thing he’s had to pay the price for now is the Adani mega scam. It’s now become Rahul Gandhi’s koshish on one side and on the other side it’s the PM’s saajish,” Ramesh said.
He also said that the opposition unity on the Adani issue had irked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Since his 50 minute speech in Parliament, the way 15 parties came together since 5 February to call for a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee), has scared the BJP. Rahul Gandhi is paying the price because the BJP wants to distract people from the Adani issue,” he said.
Singhvi, who is an eminent lawyer, also pointed out some more inconsistencies with the legal aspects of the case.
Referring to a case against Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, Singhvi said that the Supreme Court had flagged the alacrity with which the government had sought bypoll after his disqualification from the assembly.
“A few months ago in a case of another political leader from Uttar Pradesh, belonging to a leading party of the state, the SC, when an immediate by-election was sought to be announced post disqualification of that person, immediately, without waiting for the person to exhaust all legal remedies, the SC deferred the by-election but said ‘look with what alacrity you’ve proceeded’,” he said.
Singhvi further said that the issue of jurisdiction — a court in Gujarat hearing the matter of a speech in Karnataka — was brought up by Rahul’s lawyers in court.
“Admittedly no investigation was done because there was a tearing hurry to go ahead in a place without any jurisdiction at all,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha MP also pointed out “curious” behaviour from the complainant Purnesh Modi, saying that he’d gone to the high court to stay proceedings on his own case after the magistrate refused to summon Rahul for a second time in March 2022.
Later, Ramesh, in a tweet, pointed out that the case was revived 9 days after Rahul gave his speech in Parliament in February.
अडानी को लेकर 7 फरवरी को लोकसभा में @RahulGandhi के भाषण के 9 दिन बाद, 16 फरवरी को उनके ख़िलाफ़ मानहानि का मामला शिकायतकर्ता द्वारा HC में अपना स्टे वापस लेने के कारण तेज़ हो जाता है।
27 फरवरी को बहस 1 साल बाद फिर से शुरू हुई।
17 मार्च फैसला रिज़र्व।
क्या ये महज संयोग है?
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 24, 2023
(Edited by Tony Rai)