Talking to the media for the first time after being disqualified as a Lok Sabha member, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that ‘I am fighting for India’s democracy and will keep fighting. I am not afraid of anyone. Will keep asking questions.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during Saturday’s press conference. (Screengrab Credits: YouTube/Congress)
New Delhi: Speaking to the media at the Congress headquarters a day after his membership of the Lok Sabha was revoked, former party president Rahul Gandhi said he was not afraid of the BJP or the Prime Minister and would continue to question the country even after this action to save the democracy. Will keep
LIVE: On the path of truth, for the country, I am ready to pay any cost. Special Press Briefing | AICC HQ https://t.co/fvu5m9ZYP4
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 25, 2023
Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan were also present in this press conference along with party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal.
Talking to reporters, Rahul Gandhi said, ‘I have told you many times that democracy is under attack in India and we are getting to see a new example of it everyday. I had asked only one question – Adani ji has shell companies, someone has invested Rs 20,000 crore in them and this is not Adani ji’s money. This is what I asked, to whom does this money belong?
He further said, ‘I asked this question in Parliament on the basis of documents extracted from the media, asked about the relationship between Modi ji and Adani ji. My words were removed from the proceedings of the House. I wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, it didn’t make any difference.
I have seen fear in the eyes of the Prime Minister – he is afraid of my next speech in Parliament on Adani.
The simple question is – Whose foreign money worth ₹20,000 crore pumped into the Adani group by shell companies?
This whole drama is to divert attention from this question.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 25, 2023
He further said, ‘Then the ministers lied about me in the Parliament, saying that I sought help from foreign powers. I have not done any such thing. I went to the speaker and said that sir, it is a rule of the parliament that if someone accuses a member, he has the right to reply. I wrote a letter. There was no reply to that letter. Wrote another letter, there was no reply to that letter. I went to the speaker’s chamber, said, Speaker sir, this is the law, this is the rule… why are you not allowing me to speak? Speaker Sir smilingly says, I cannot. And then after that you saw what happened.
The former Congress president said, ‘I will not stop asking questions. What is Narendra Modi’s relation with Adani and to whom does 20 thousand crore rupees belong? I will keep asking, I am not afraid of these people and if they think that they can lock me up by canceling my membership, threatening me, putting me in jail, then it will not happen, I do not have such a history.
He added, ‘I am fighting for the democracy of India and I will keep fighting for the democracy of India. I am not afraid of anything.
It may be noted that on March 23, a Surat court in Gujarat sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in prison in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him for his alleged ‘Modi surname’ remark.
However, shortly thereafter, the court granted bail to Gandhi and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal.
A case was registered against Rahul on April 13, 2019, by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi. He had complained about the remarks made by Rahul at a rally in Kolar, Karnataka during the Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi had reportedly said during the rally, ‘All thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, why they have Modi in their names.’
On March 24, a day after his conviction, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha. In a notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, it was said that Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from March 23, 2023.
In Saturday’s press conference, when asked about challenging the sentencing, Gandhi said he would not comment on the legal matter.
Rahul alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was accusing him of insulting the OBC community to divert attention from questions related to the Adani group. He said, ‘BJP tries to divert attention, sometimes it will talk about OBCs, sometimes it will talk about foreign countries, sometimes something else, but the question is, to whom was Rs 20,000 crore?’
BJP is saying, attack on Adani is attack on the country.
For them the country is Adani and Adani is the country.
After all, why is the Prime Minister using all his might to save Adani?!
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 25, 2023
On the question of support by the opposition, Gandhi said, ‘I thank all the opposition parties that they supported us in this matter. We will all work together. During this, he also said that with this step of the government, the opposition parties have got a big weapon, which will benefit them.
He said in answer to a question, ‘whether I get membership or not. Disqualify me permanently, I don’t care whether I am inside the Parliament or not. I see the truth, speak the truth. This thing is in my blood… this is my penance, I will keep doing it. Whether they disqualify me, beat me, put me in jail, it doesn’t matter to me, I have to do my penance.’
He was asked by a journalist that BJP leaders were constantly asking Rahul Gandhi to apologise, to which Gandhi replied, ‘… my name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi, Gandhi does not apologize to anyone.’
Regarding the reaction of the people of his parliamentary constituency to this decision, Gandhi said that he has a family relationship with the people of Wayanad and he will write a letter to the people of Wayanad and speak his heart.
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Categories: Politics Special
