“My Name Is Not Savarkar, Won’t Apologise”: Rahul Gandhi On Disqualification

By
Pramod Hegde
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he does not care if he is disqualified from the Lok Sabha as his ‘tapasya’ is to defend the democratic rights of the people.

Rahul Gandhi On Disqualification

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday called a press conference, the first after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, and said he does not care even if he gets permanently disqualified from the Lok Sabha as his ‘tapasya’ (penance) is to work for the people.

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The disqualification is not about the 2019 comment, nor about the OBC as the BJP is projecting, Rahul Gandhi said, adding that it all started from his questions on Adani. “Please understand why I have been disqualified. I have been disqualified because PM Narendra Modi is scared of my next speech on Adani. I have seen it in his eyes,” Rahul Gandhi said.

‘My name is not Savarkar’

Further, he used a Veer Savarkar reference to answer why he didn’t apologize for his remarks in London and during the defamation trial in which he was convicted.

Responding to the BJP’s calls for apology, he said, “My name is not Savarkar. I am a Gandhi. I won’t apologize.”

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He also denied the BJP’s charges that he had pursued the intervention of international forces in the domestic affairs of the country. He said he had asked the Speaker to let him respond on the floor of the House to the allegations over his London remarks.

“BJP leaders claimed that I am helping anti-India forces. I told the Speaker that it is my right to respond to these allegations. But he didn’t allow me,” he said. “I have only one step and that’s to fight for truth and to defend the democratic nature of this country. Disqualify me for life, jail me for life, I will continue going.”

“Do I look worried? I’m excited,” said Mr. Gandhi.

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The case arose from Mr. Gandhi’s alleged remark at a 2019 election rally implying PM Modi is a criminal. “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname,” he had said in Karnataka’s Kolar, leading to numerous defamation cases being filed against him in various states.

The BJP had projected this remark as a smear campaign against those who share the Modi surname and the OBC community.

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