'My name is not Savarkar': Rahul Gandhi rules out apology, vows to continue fighting
“I have been disqualified because the prime minister is scared of my next speech,” Rahul charged.
Published: 26th March 2023 12:10 AM | Last Updated: 28th March 2023 04:48 PM | A+A A-
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference at AICC in New Delhi. (Photo | Parveen Negi, EPS)
NEW DELHI/PATNA/GUWAHATI: A day after his disqualification from Parliament, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the ruling BJP saying he will continue to raise questions on the relationship between the Modi government and business tycoon Adani and fight for truth.
Addressing the media, Rahul charged that his conviction by a Surat court in a defamation case and the subsequent disqualification were part of the government’s panic reaction. He also ruled out the possibility of an apology over his remarks on the Modi surname in 2019, which a Surat court found defamatory, saying “My name is not Savarkar. My name is Gandhi. I won’t apologise.”
“I have been disqualified because the prime minister is scared of my next speech,” Rahul charged.
He claimed the trouble started after he raised specific questions on the relationship between the PM and the Adani group, which was accused of stock manipulation by New York-based Hindenburg. “Rs 20,000 crores came into the shell companies owned by Adani. Adani could not have generated this amount of money. He is in the infrastructure business. Where did this money come from and whose money is it?” he wondered.
Rahul added that no threats or prison sentence can dissuade him from pursuing his tapasya (penance). “I am here defending the democratic voice of Indian people. I am not scared of threats, disqualifications or prison sentences.”
The Congress leader also thanked Opposition leaders for extending support to him and said all parties will work together. “Opposition will benefit from this panic reaction by the government. This is a blessing for us,” he said.
In his pushback, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad recalled that 32 lawmakers have been disqualified in the past, including six BJP members. “Law is the same for everybody,” he said. He charged that Congress did not seek an immediate stay on Rahul’s conviction so as to milk it in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Rahul himself had trashed an ordinance the UPA had introduced in 2013 against the immediate disqualification of lawmakers. “If karma strikes him back, what’s our fault?” the BJP stalwart quipped.
