Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said the National Herald case is "pure political vendetta coming out of the PM's office"
In an all-out attack, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today said the National Herald case is "pure political vendetta coming out of the PM's office." Mr Gandhi and his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi have to appear in court in the case.
Here are the latest developments:
The ruling BJP immediately hit back, with its Rajiv Pratap Rudy saying, "Rahul Gandhi doesn't have the courage to face Parliament with proof to refute the charges against him. As an accused, he is nervous."
"One hundred per cent political vendetta. This is pure political vendetta coming out of the PM's office. It is their way of doing politics... I have full faith in the legal system," Mr Gandhi said outside Parliament, which saw repeated disruptions forced by protesting members of his party.
"We all know who is threatening the judiciary," Mr Gandhi also said in response to union minister M Venkaiah Nadiu's allegation in the Lok Sabha that the Congress is "threatening the judiciary through Parliament."
Mr Naidu censured the Congress for holding up Parliament proceedings with its protests over the court summons to the Gandhis. "They are obstructing the progress of the country," he said and sought to emphasise that the government has no role to play in the case. "The government has nothing to do with it. It was a court order," he said. Mr Naidu later told journalists, the Congress is "resorting to mobocracy, not democracy."
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue in the house, accusing the government of "intimidating the opposition. "We are not against the judiciary. We are protesting against your intent to oppress," said Mr Kharge.
"This is happening to the entire Opposition. If someone doesn't agree with you, you are trying to harass them," the Congress leader added.
Lawmakers of the Trinamool Congress walked out of Lok Sabha to show support, they said, for the Congress allegation of "vendetta politics" against the government. The party also protested in the Rajya Sabha. Member Derek O'Brien said in the Upper House, "When there is open political vendetta not only here, all across the country, what are we left to do?"
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been ordered to appear in court to face allegations that they illegally acquired property worth Rs 5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper. The petitioner is the BJP's Subramanian Swamy.
The BJP has distanced itself from Mr Swamy, saying the party has over 10 crore members in India and that the case was filed much before the NDA came to power.
The new developments threaten a tentative working relationship that the government was attempting to forge with the Congress, whose support it needs to push the key reform measure, Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, through Parliament.
Post a comment