The war of words between Congress and BJP over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha and on JPC demand over Adani issue continued on Thursday with the two Houses also facing adjournments.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day following opposition protests. The two Houses were earlier adjourned till 2 pm. Some opposition members continued their “black” protest which they started on Monday.
Outside the Parliament, the BJP on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on Rahul Gandhi stating that the Congress leader was pretending not to be coward after apologizing to the Supreme Court of India for his previous remarks.
Addressing a press conference, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that Rahul Gandhi has been convicted by the court for “abusing” the OBC community.
“He (Rahul Gandhi) abused and accused PM Modi in Parliament but could not verify his own statement by authenticating it with his own signature. He is the man who apologised to the Supreme Court and pretends today not to be a coward. Rahul Gandhi has been convicted by the court, for not abusing an individual but the OBC community is known to every citizen of our country,” she said.
“In an attempt to insult PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi also insulted the entire OBC community. This is not the first time Gandhi family has tried to insult people from Dalit or backward communities. Rahul Gandhi could not develop the humility to beg the forgiveness of the OBC community in our country is just another manifestation of the political arrogance called the Gandhi family,” she added. .
Following conviction in a criminal defamation case by a Surat court, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP on Friday last. Addressing a press conference a day later, Gandhi said he would not apologise over BJP demand.
“My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone,” he had said.
In 2019 May, Rahul Gandhi had tendered an unconditional apology in the Supreme Court for his ‘Chowkidar Chor hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Modi.
Citing an interview of Rahul Gandhi in the past, Irani said that he had vowed to destroy Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image but did not succeed.
“Rahul Gandhi in a magazine interview said that Modi Ji’s strength is his image and he will destroy that image. He said that he will keep attacking PM Modi’s image until he destroys it. The Gandhi family tried to malign the image of PM Narendra Modi when they were in power but they failed miserably. Rahul Gandhi’s promise to a magazine editor to rip Modi’s image apart is a promise that shall remain unfulfilled because PM Modi’s greatest strength is the people of India,” she said.
Asked about a notice served to Rahul Gandhi by the Housing Committee of Lok Sabha to vacate the government bungalow allotted to him, Irani said, “The house does not belong to him, it belongs to the common people.”
Hitting back, Congress leaders alleged that the BJP government was “scared” of questions on the Adani issue.
Opposition parties had attacked the government following Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification and in a show of strength marched from the Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk on Monday.
Opposition parties may bring a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday sources said, adding that the proposal was kept in a meeting of Congress MPs and the party is talking to other Opposition parties in this regard.
The Congress had planned ‘Loktantra Bachao Mashal Shanti March’ from the Red Fort to Town Hall in the national capital in the evening as part of its campaign against the government over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification and “to save democracy”.
Several Congress workers and leaders were “detained” by Police as the party tried to stage the protest march.
Party leader KC Venugopal said that party workers were stopped by police.
“You should see the plight of democracy in the country. We are doing a peaceful torchlight march. Yesterday we discussed this with police & commissioners & they agreed. Today, they stopped our workers everywhere,” he said.
The party has planned public campaign to send postcards to PM Modi “questioning him on relevant issues”.
The second part of budget session has seen continuous disruptions over the Opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row and over BJP’s demand for apology from Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in United kingdom.
