BJP sees plot within Congress in not challenging lower court verdict on Rahul

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday suggested that a conspiracy within the Congress might have played a role in its leaders not approaching a higher court for relief for Rahul Gandhi after his conviction as it had done so in the case of Pawan Khera within hours of the Assam police arresting him.

Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur also hit out at the Congress over its criticism of the court judgment convicting Gandhi and said the Nehru-Gandhi family suffers from "feudal mindset" and a "sense of entitlement" as its members believed in a separate set of laws and democratic system for themselves.

"Law is equal for everyone," Pradhan told reporters at a press conference, accusing Gandhi of "abusing" backward castes with his "thieves" jibe aimed at "Modi surname".

Hitting back at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for his claim that Gandhi has been punished for speaking the truth on the Adani-Hindenburg issue, he asked if abusing deprived and backward communities means speaking the truth.

Both the BJP leaders asserted that Gandhi's disqualification was a natural outcome of the law as the Supreme Court has made it clear that a lawmaker stands disqualified from the time of his conviction.

The Lok Sabha speaker has only confirmed this legal position, they said.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified Gandhi as MP from Wayanad in Kerala a day after a Surat court convicted him in a 2019 criminal defamation case for his remark "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?"

Following his disqualification, he would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.