Kiren Rijiju defends BJP attack on Rahul Gandhi: ‘Must raise voice against those who speak against nation’

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday demanded an apology from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the Indian democracy made in London, UK, adding that he has “insulted” Indian democracy, the judiciary as well as the nation.

“If Rahul Gandhi says something and Congress gets into trouble because of that, we have nothing to do with it. But if he defames our country, then as the citizens of this country, we can’t be quiet,” Rijiju said, as quoted by ANI.

“Rahul Gandhi must apologise for what he said in his London seminar. He has insulted our democracy, judiciary & nation. We must raise our voice against those who speak against our nation,” the Law minister added.

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The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha proceedings are witnessing regular disruptions since the Budget Session of the Parliament resumed on Monday after a month-long recess, as the ruling BJP has been demanding an apology from Gandhi over his “democracy under attack” remark made in London and accusing him of insulting India, while the Opposition members have been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani matter.

Recently, speaking at the Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, Gandhi had said that the “Indian democracy is under pressure, is under attack”.

“Everybody knows and it’s been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure, is under attack, right. I’m an Opposition leader in India and we’re navigating that space. What’s happening, the institutional framework which is required for a democracy – Parliament, a free press, the Judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, just the idea of moving around, these are all getting constrained. So we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy in the Constitution,” the Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad had said.

In another interaction with the Indian Journalists’ Association in London, Rahul had claimed, “I think the basic idea that the RSS and the BJP need to be fought and need to be defeated is deeply entrenched in the minds of the Opposition.”

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said that there was “no question” of Rahul Gandhi apologising, and called it BJP’s “conspiracy” to not let the Parliament run normally.

“It’s their conspiracy to not let the Parliament run and ignore our demand for a JPC probe in the Adani issue. They don’t want to discuss issues of unemployment & inflation. Earlier on numerous occasions, Modi Ji spoke against India abroad. There is no question of apologising,” Kharge said, as quoted by ANI.

Leader of Rajya Sabha and union minister Piyush Goyal and Defence minister Rajnath Singh led the attack against the Wayanad MP in the Parliament, and have demanded apology from Gandhi.