Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his disqualification as an MP.
“You go and personally ask the OBC leaders of Congress whether they are happy? Giving a statement is different but will someone like it if it is said that the whole community is a thief? This is nothing but the pride of an individual harming the dignity of a particular community,” Sarma told reporters in Guwahati.
“The Judiciary has done the right thing. If you do not like the decision of the judiciary, then approach a higher court,” he added.
Speaking on Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, Chief Minister Sarma said, “If ‘Karma’ strikes him back, then where is our fault? In Hinduism, we believe that ‘Karma’ strikes you back. When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, he brought the ordinance that an MP should not be immediately disqualified but Rahul Gandhi himself rejected it.”
“Even we do politics and sometimes may utter a few ‘wrong’ words, but immediately after that, either our party men remind us that we have said something wrong or we ourselves realize that we shouldn’t have said that.
“In such a case, we either release a press statement or ourselves come before the media and apologize,” Sarma added.
“In the past five years, Rahul Gandhiji did not apologize to anyone. This apology was not for Narendra Modiji, but it was due to the entire OBC community. Today even after the court verdict, Rahul Gandhi is sitting like a fighter jet, that I will fight the judiciary.
“If you think that only you have pride, then the OBC community of our country also has pride. This is the reality and there is no politics behind it,” the Chief Minister said.
“You are a leader of the opposition and you are not barred from going to any meeting. You do rallies, meetings, do ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, there is no prohibition, but don’t pass unacceptable remarks against any community, this is not right,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after he was convicted in a defamation case by a Surat court.
A notice issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said he stood disqualified from the House from March 23, the day of his conviction.
The senior leader of the grand old party now has to move to a higher court and get his conviction stayed.