Ashok Chavan (centre) at the event. (News18)
The party has been holding Satyagraha Deekshas in various districts. In a programme called ‘Democracy Dis’ Qualified’ on Tuesday, former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan said Gandhi is the victim of political conspiracy
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s court sentence and disqualification as an MP has sparked a flurry of activities by Telangana Congress.
The party has been holding Satyagraha Deekshas in various districts in solidarity with their party leader. In a programme called ‘Democracy Dis’ Qualified’ on Tuesday, former chief minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan said that Gandhi is the victim of political conspiracy.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using these tactics to take away attention from inflation, unemployment, border tiffs with China and corruption. They are muzzling the voice of anyone who is trying to raise these issues. Gandhi tried his best to raise the Adani issue, but one is not allowed to speak out anywhere, be it nationally or internationally. If you see the chronology of events, you can understand the conspiracy,” he said.
“On April 13, 2019, Gandhi had made a speech in Karnataka. BJP MLA Purnesh Modi filed a complaint three days later. On March 7 last year, the complainant seeks stay on his own petition, which the HC granted. Why would anyone do that? It shows that the complainant felt that his plea would not be heard positively by that bench. After Gandhi questioned the relationship between Adani and the PM on February 7 this year, the complainant withdrew his own request for stay in Gujarat HC. Subsequently, a trial court convicted Gandhi and handed a sentence of two years. He was also disqualified as an MP. This shows that it is nothing but a political conspiracy,” he added.
Speaking to News18, Dr SA Sampath Kumar, former MLA and AICC secretary, said: “This is not only about Rahul Gandhi, but all citizens of the country. The democratic spirit of the country has been murdered by the BJP for the past nine years. It has reached a peak now after the leader of the largest democratic platform in the world (Congress) has been disqualified. If this is the condition of Rahul Gandhi, what will be the condition of common man?”
“There are two angles here — legal and parliamentary. Legal processes are manipulated by the BJP. The fast pace of the proceedings shows that the BJP has vested interests here. In such cases, the petitioner should be a direct victim of the statement that was deemed defamatory. However, the petitioner’s name is not even among the three names uttered by Gandhi in Karnataka. These are violations of legal procedures. Parliamentary procedures are not being followed by the Speaker either. Through our Satyagrahas and candle marches in various districts, we are trying to highlight these issues.”
While a Sankalp Satyagraha was held in Old City on Monday, a mashal rally was organised by Hyderabad Youth Congress on Tuesday. After Gandhi was asked to evacuate his quarters at 12 Tughlak Lane in New Delhi, TPCC president Revanth Reddy tweeted saying that his party leader was welcome to live in his home.
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