Maha: At Vidhan Bhavan, Cong and NCP slam BJP over Rahul’s disqualification

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party NCP legislators on Friday protested on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan here against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a member of Lok Sabha, after the Opposition walked out of the Assembly over the same issue.

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislators on Friday protested on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan here against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a member of Lok Sabha, after the Opposition walked out of the Assembly over the same issue. Former chief minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan told reporters, “We condemn the decision. People will never accept this kind of politics that has plunged so low.'' The lawmakers wore black armbands as part of their protest. State Congress president Nana Patole said people like Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya looted the country and fled. “Rahul Gandhi is highlighting the issue. BJP’s mental make-up is to finish democracy,” he said. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ajit Pawar said the people of the country did not like the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi (in 1975) and defeated her, suggesting a similarity between the current situation and the Emergency period. Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not allow a joint parliamentary committee probe and also did not speak on the Adani issue. But the BJP is raking irrelevant issues, he alleged. Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said Gandhi had been disqualified from the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court convicted him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. This prompted the Opposition to stage a walkout in the Maharashtra Assembly. “We condemn the decision to disqualify Rahul Gandhi as a member of the Lok Sabha. We decided to walk out in protest,” said senior Congress leader Patole. The Opposition members then protested on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan before going back. Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said the law under which a member stands disqualified after a conviction was enacted by the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government and the Centre implemented it. “The Congress MLAs staging a walkout is laughable,” he said. A court in Surat sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a defamation case on Thursday, filed on a complaint by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his alleged remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” Announcing his disqualification, the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification said that it was effective from March 23, the day of his conviction. “Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat...Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March, 2023,” the notification read. Following his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.