On Friday, 7th April 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed Congress leader and disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi for his “democracy in danger” comments, saying it is the Gandhi family and their dynastic politics that are in danger, not India’s democracy. He also criticised the opposition parties for interrupting parliamentary operations in response to the Gandhi scion’s disqualification.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a program at Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh. During his address, Amit Shah said, “Yesterday the session of Parliament ended. It never happened in independent India’s history that the budget session ended without discussion. But the Opposition leaders did not let the Parliament do work. What was the reason? The reason was that Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as the MP. The country will not forgive Opposition parties for disrupting Parliament proceedings over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.”
#WATCH कल ही संसद समाप्त हुई। आज़ादी के इतिहास में कभी नहीं हुआ कि देश के बजट सत्र में चर्चा करे बिना संसद समाप्त हुई हो। विपक्ष के नेताओं ने सदन को चलने नहीं दिया। इसका कारण कि राहुल गांधी को अयोग्य घोषित किया गया… राहुल गंधी इस सज़ा को चुनौती दें। आपने संसद के वक्त को बली… pic.twitter.com/C0NLRkSdz7
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) April 7, 2023
Amit Shah criticised the disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi for his contentious comments against Indian democracy that he made while visiting the UK. The Home Minister questioned the crowd, “Should any Indian politician defame the country on foreign soil?” To which the crowd responded in unison, “No.”
उत्तर प्रदेश में कौशाम्बी महोत्सव-2023 के शुभारंभ कार्यक्रम को संबोधित करते हुए। https://t.co/CgtyVe41EF
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 7, 2023
Amit Shah further said, “They say Democracy is in danger. Democracy is not in danger, your family is in danger. The ‘Idea of India’ is not in danger, but the idea of the dynasty and autocracy by one family is in danger. You had surrounded the country’s democracy with casteism, dynasty politics and appeasement. PM Modi ended all of these, that’s why you are scared.”
The Home Minister added, “Congress has lost even the post of Leader of Opposition (in Lok Sabha). This time too, the Modi govt will be formed with more than 300 seats… As many times as Sonia ji, Rahul ji or anyone else, whenever Modi ji has been abused, the public has made the lotus grow stronger in the mud of these abuses.”
Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday, March 23, for his remarks insulting the Modi surname. During an election rally in 2019, Rahul Gandhi alleged that everyone with the Modi surname, including Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, and Narendra Modi, are thieves. Following this, Gujarat BJP leader Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case against the Congress leader, accusing him of defaming the entire Modi community. The court, however, granted him bail immediately and suspended the sentence for a month.
Notably, the Representation of the People Act, of 1951 specifies the qualifications and the disqualifications of Members of Parliament and state legislatures. Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, contains provisions aimed at decriminalizing electoral politics. According to section 8(3) of this law, any MP or MLA convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of conviction. In accordance with the law, the Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified Rahul Gandhi and declared his constituency vacant in response to the Surat court judgment.
