New Delhi: Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi arrives at Parliament House complex, in New Delhi, Wednesday, March 29, 2023. (PTI Photo)Rahul Gandhi disqualification News Live Updates: Reacting to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Parliament, German said Thursday that it has taken note of the case and “expects that the standards of judicial independence and fundamental democratic principles will apply.” The German Foreign Ministry spokesperson made the statement during a press briefing that was aired on German state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
Amid a bitter tussle with the BJP-led Union government, Congress MPs, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi skipped a breakfast meeting hosted by President Droupadi Murmu, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present. Asked whether Congress MPs had boycotted the breakfast meeting with Murmu, a senior Congress leader said, “No, it was not a boycott….we had meetings of Opposition leaders and Congress MPs around the same time.”
In other news, Google’s video platform YouTube has told the Congress that it is looking into a claim made by party leader Rahul Gandhi that views on his videos on industrialist Gautam Adani are much lower than his other videos with similar user engagement, it is learnt. The Congress had written to YouTube earlier this month suggesting that it suspects viewership of Rahul’s two videos on Adani were suppressed.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Thursday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was spreading 'false propaganda' by calling Rahul Gandhi's comment on OBCs 'an insult' to the community.
'All the absconders who were named, Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Mehul Choksi are not OBCs, but BJP is trying to build a false propaganda of so-called insult to the OBCs. This is all being done to distract public attention from the real issues of BJPs - corruption and loot of public money,' he said in his address during the celebrations of Vaikom Satyagraha in Kerala.
'This reflects brutal vindictiveness of Modi. It is quite clear why such an action was taken against Rahul Gandhi ji. He asked the few simple questions in the Parliament,' he continued and went on to list down that questions Gandhi had asked PM Modi.
The BJP has accused Rahul Gandhi of having an anti-OBC bias as Gandhi, in April 2019 in Karnataka's Kolar, had said, “Why do all thieves have the name Modi?.' Gandhi was disqualified from the Parliament over his remark.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Thursday accused the Modi government of "deliberately" allowing the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament.
He made the comment while addressing a gathering in Kerala during the celebrations of Vaikom Satyagraha on Thursday.
Kharge said, "Rahul Gandhi ji's disqualification was the darkest day for Indian democracy. There are various legal issues in the judgment of the trial court. The Modi government deliberately allowed this exercise to play out."
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, 59, is actively campaigning to oppose the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament.
In a conversation with The Indian Express' Sukhbir Siwach, Sukhu said that the step can weaken democracy in the country, and justified water cess on hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh even though Punjab and Haryana are opposing the move. Excerpts:
Do you think Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament may lead to a change in political equations in the country?
Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament is a political conspiracy. There is only one leader (Rahul Gandhi) in the country who is honestly voicing people’s sentiments in the public court. There is no other leader who is raising the BJP failures inside and outside the House. There is an atmosphere of fear. Us dar ko Rahul Gandhi nikalana chahte hain (Rahul Gandhi wants to get rid of this fear). This is a battle to save democracy, and this is not an individual battle of Rahul Gandhi.”
Read the full interview here.
The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur Thursday took to Twitter to share his reactions to the German foreign ministry "taking note of" Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Parliament.
He called the senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's acknowledgment of German ministry's comment a "disgrace to nation" and wrote that the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi "don't believe to fight India's democratic, political & legal battle within country, hence, invite foreign powers to interfere in our internal matter."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday, in a reaction to senior Congress leader Digvijaya's Singh's acknowledgement of German foreign ministry "taking note of how the Democracy is being compromised in India through persecution of Rahul Gandhi," said, "Apparent that @INCIndia wants foreign interference in our affairs."
Sitharaman took to Twitter to share her reaction and listed down the actions of the Congress party on international platforms.
The Chairman of Congress' Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera Thursday hit back at Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju's reaction to Digvijaya Singh thanking the German Foreign Affairs Ministry for "taking note of" Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.
Taking to Twitter, Khera wrote, "Mr. Rijiju, why divert from the main issue? The issue is that the Prime Minister cannot answer Rahul Gandhi’s questions about Adani. Instead of misleading people, please answer the questions?"
Soon after senior Congress leader thanked the German foreign ministry for recognizing "how the Democracy is being compromised in India through persecution of Rahul Gandhi," Rijiju reacted asserting, "India won't tolerate 'foreign influence' anymore because our Prime Minister is: Shri Narendra Modi ji."
Reacting to senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's tweet in which he had thanked the German foreign ministry for "taking note of" Rahul Gandhi's disqualification, Union Minister of Law and Justice shared over Twitter, "Thank you Rahul Gandhi for inviting foreign powers for interference into India’s internal matters. Remember, Indian Judiciary can't be influenced by foreign interference. India won't tolerate 'foreign influence' anymore because our Prime Minister is: Shri Narendra Modi ji."
In a tweet, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh thanked German foreign ministry and Richard Walker, Chief International Editor of Deutsche Welle, for "taking note of how the Democracy is being compromised in India through persecution of Rahul Gandhi".
He tagged a tweet by Walker in which the senior journalist had posted a video of a German foreign ministry spokesperson reacting to Gandhi's disqualification.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the CBI was “putting pressure” on him to “frame” Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an alleged fake encounter case in Gujarat when he was being questioned by the probe agency during the Congress-led UPA government.
Shah said this at the ‘News 18 Rising India’ programme in New Delhi in response to a question on Opposition’s charge that the Narendra Modi government is “misusing’ central agencies to target them. Read here
“Deservedly Disqualified” might be a better title and theme for the editorial carried in this paper (‘Disqualified’, IE, March 25).
Without being coy about it, we need to understand that the court judgment sentencing Rahul Gandhi to prison for two years for criminal defamation has effectively said that Gandhi is both a liar and hurtful to others. It would be unfair to conflate the disqualification of Gandhi after conviction for defamation with the might of the government and the supposed loss of democratic freedoms in India. M. Rajivlochan writes
Google’s video platform YouTube has told the Congress that it is looking into a claim made by party leader Rahul Gandhi that views on his videos on industrialist Gautam Adani are much lower than his other videos with similar user engagement, it is learnt. The Congress had written to YouTube earlier this month suggesting that it suspects viewership of Rahul’s two videos on Adani were suppressed. Manoj CG reports
Reacting to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Parliament, German said Thursday that it has taken note of the case and “expects that the standards of judicial independence and fundamental democratic principles will apply.” The German Foreign Ministry spokesperson made the statement during a press briefing that was aired on German state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
“We have taken note of the verdict of the first instance against the Indian opposition politician Rahul Gandhi as well as the suspension of his parliamentary mandate. To our knowledge, Rahul Gandhi is in a position to appeal the verdict. An appeal will show whether the verdict stands and whether suspension has a basis. We expect standards of judicial independence and democratic principles to be applied,” the spokesperson said. Read here
Good morning! Welcome to today's live blog. Stay tuned for all the latest updates on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha.