Breaking his silence on his disqualification as an MP while addressing a rally in Kerala’s Wayanad, his former Lok Sabha constituency, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that ruling party can take away his MP tag, position or even put him in jail, but it will stop him from representing the people of Wayanad.
Addressing a public rally in Kalpetta in Wayanad, Gandhi said, “MP is just a tag or position and BJP can take my tag, position, and house or put me in jail, but they cannot stop me from representing the people of Wayanad. They think that they will scare me by sending the police to my house…I am happy they took my house. I was not satisfied living in that house.”
Gandhi was convicted by a Surat court on March 23 in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed by BJP leader Purnesh Modi, and sentenced to two years in prison for his “Modi surname” remarks. He was released on bail later and the court gave him 30 days to appeal the verdict in a higher court. A day later, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification disqualifying him as a Member of Parliament, thereby declaring his Wayanad Lok Sabha seat vacant.
The 52-year-old Congress leader was also asked to vacate his 12 Tughlaq Lane bungalow, which he is allowed to retain till April 22.
The Congress leader said that the although he has been fighting the BJP for several years, the saffron party has not “understood their opponent”.
“I have been fighting BJP for a number of years now. It surprises me that in so many years, they have been unable to understand their opponent. They do not understand that their opponent will not get intimidated. It surprises me that they cannot see this. They think that by sending police to my house, I will get scared.. they think by taking away my house I will get disturbed.”
He further said, “You (the BJP) divide people. You make people fight, threaten people, abuse as much as you want, I will keep uniting people, and keep respecting every community, and every idea of India. You be as nasty as you want, as evil you want, I will continue to be kind even to you. Because this is a fight between two visions of India. You represent one vision in India. And we represent another. And we are not scared of your intimidation.”
Gandhi said that he will continue to raise the issues of Wayanad, regardless of whether he remains an MP or not. “My relationship with the people of Wayanad is not going to change. My entire life, this relationship is not going to change now. Let them put me in jail, it will not change,” the former MP added.
The Congress leader also alleged that he was not allowed to speak during the Budget Session of the Parliament, as he kept on asking questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his relationship with businessman Gautam Adani.
“I went to Parliament and asked the PM about a businessman. I just asked him, ‘Mr Narendra Modi, please explain your relationship with Mr Adani’. I kept asking that simple question in my speech in Parliament. I used media reports to show Adani who was 609th on the list of wealthiest people of the world came to number 2. I gave examples of how the Indian PM facilitated this. I showed how the defence relationship between Israel and India transformed to benefit Adani. How airport rules were changed to help Adani. How foreign policy was changed to help Adani. PM has not answered the question.”
“For the first time you saw a government not allowing the Parliament to function. BJP ministers lied about me on the floor of House. The rule says if any member has levelled an allegation against another member, he has a right to respond. I asked Lok Sabha Speaker, and wrote him two letters. I asked him why are you doing this? He told me I have no choice,” the Congress leader said.
“The entire Parliament house was shut, and I was not allowed to reply. And because the government was uncomfortable about the questions I had asked, and the issues I had raised, I was disqualified. This is the biggest gift that they could have given me,” Gandhi said.
“My disqualification doesn’t mean anything as far as my relationship with you is concerned. I promise you this disqualification will only deepen my relationship with you. Because my relationship with you is one of a family, brother and son, and that is not going to change.”
Accompanying Rahul was his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who also attacked the BJP and alleged that PM Modi is defending Adani.
“Rahul Gandhi was disqualified for asking a question that they (BJP) could not answer. The whole govt is trying to defend Gautam Adani. The PM is defending Adani. BJP turning our democracy on its head. PM is changing his dressing style every day but there is no change in the lifestyle of common people. They are struggling for jobs,” Priyanka said.