Conspiracy within Congress to not approach higher court for Rahul Gandhi, alleges BJP

As it tackled the backlash from the Congress party over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the Congress had carried out a hit job in Gandhi’s case, and that his legal advisors had given him bad advice, even as they continued to attack Gandhi.

Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur said that Gandhi should seek out those who has carried out a conspiracy against him. “Niptaane waale kaun hai? (Who are these people who want to get rid of you). This is a well-thought out strategy. They approached the court within hours of Pawan Khera’s case, but in Rahul Gandhi’s case it was well over 24 hours,” Thakur said.

The BJP has contended that the Congress could have appealed for a stay in the conviction. The Congress on Thursday appealed for a stay in the sentencing leading to a 30-day bail period for Gandhi. Congress leaders have said that as the judgement came in late and was in Gujarati, they needed a day to react.

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Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan asked why could the lawyers in the midst of the Congress not help Gandhi. “Your party has legal luminaries, in fact yesterday, former Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that conviction will lead to immediate disqualification,” Pradhan said.

Pradhan also reminded Gandhi of the infamous episode in 2013 when Gandhi tore a copy of the ordinance during a press conference by Congress leader Ajay Maken which sought to overturn the Lily Thomas vs Union of India case which granted a period of three months to convicted lawmakers to appeal before disqualification from an assembly of Parliament.

Thakur listed previous instances where defamation cases have been filed against Gandhi, including his apology in the Supreme Court for his defamatory remarks in the Rafale case.

Pradhan defended the criticism that the BJP wants to keep Gandhi away from the Parliamen t by saying that the government of the BJP has no part to play in the court’s decision. “The Opposition says the judiciary is independent when it suits them, and criticise the courts when it doesn’t. But in this case, the court has acted in a democratic manner,” Pradhan said.

He added that more than the courts, the people hae given Gandhi a reply. “In 2019, the poor and the Dalits gave Rahul Gandhi a befitting reply. The nature of the 2019 mandate was different than 2014,” he added.