Congress leaders in Kerala have come out in support of Rahul Gandhi after he was disqualified as Member of Parliament on Friday, March 24. Rahul Gandhi is an MP representing the Wayanad constituency in Kerala. The former Congress chief was sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Gujarat court on Thursday, March 23, for remarks he made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. However, he was granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days, allowing him to appeal to higher courts. On Friday, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notice disqualifying Rahul from his post.
Kerala’s Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said that it is not possible to threaten or silence the Opposition. "The legal fight will continue and truth will win. The order to disqualify him is hasty and politically motivated. The Congress will fight the action of the Lok Sabha Secretariat legally as well as politically. The verdict of the Surat court is not final. The Congress trusts in democracy as well as in the judiciary. There is a legal system in the country that goes up to the Supreme Court. Rahul Gandhi will come back through a legal fight. Neither the Congress nor Rahul Gandhi can be silenced with this,” a statement from Satheesan read. It added that the Congress will stand united behind him and will fight against retaliatory politics and factionalism.
KC Venugopal, Congress General Secretary in charge of party organisation, called the verdict unfortunate. “We are doing a solidarity march in support of Rahul Gandhi all over India. Ever since Rahul Gandhi started speaking about the Adani scam, the BJP has purposefully tried to prevent him from speaking about it,” he said. Venugopal is a Congress leader from Kerala and a Rajya Sabha MP.
The verdict was so unfortunate. We are doing a solidarity march in support of Rahul Gandhi ji all over India.
— Congress (@INCIndia) March 23, 2023
Ever since Rahul Gandhi ji started speaking about the Adani scam, the BJP has purposefully been trying to prevent him from speaking about it.
: @kcvenugopalmp Ji pic.twitter.com/rTnWfyrRT4
Prominent leader of the Congress party and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said, “I am stunned by this action and by its rapidity, within 24 hours of the court verdict and when an appeal was known to be in process. This is politics with the gloves off and it bodes ill for our democracy,” Shashi Tharoor tweeted.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) will take out a march to Raj Bhavan, the Governor's official residence in Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday, March 27. TU Radhakrishnan, KPCC General Secretary in charge of organisation said that the march is in protest against the anti-democratic, fascist actions against Rahul Gandhi. KPCC President K Sudhakaran and other senior leaders will take part in the protest.
Speaking to TNM, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said, "We will fight it legally and politically. We will organise massive protests. We are with Rahul Gandhi. This is a conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and we will face it. They are afraid of our political ideologies, which is why they are taking these measures. We are not afraid. Since yesterday, we have started protests.” Chennithala is the former leader of opposition and MLA from Haripad constituency in Alappuzha.
Hibi Eden, the Congress MP from Ernakulam, said that the Congress will fight this battle legally and politically. “The government has clearly shown their trust towards Adani. Modi and his government has totally been in favour of a corporate entity of the country. An elected representative who has won with more than 4 lakh votes has been disqualified when he had a chance to appeal in higher courts. But they never waited for that. The eagerness they have shown to disqualify Rahul Gandhi is a huge threat to Indian democracy,” Hibi Eden told TNM.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas tweeted, “When parliament itself is treated shabbily, it is not surprising to see the lightning speed with which @RahulGandhi is disqualified. RIP for democracy is not very far.”
When parliament itself is treated shabbily, it’s not surprising to see the lightning speed with which @RahulGandhi is disqualified. RIP for democracy is not very far! pic.twitter.com/Kv2P8I02KD
— John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) March 24, 2023
CPI(M) leader and former MLA M Swaraj said that India has proved that democracy is a mere word here. "It is very clear Rahul Gandhi’s speech did not intend to defame any community, but meant to criticise the Prime Minister and corruption. When dissent, criticism, and opposition is dealt with in this way, the voice being heard is that of facism. What is being killed is the country itself," Swaraj said. He said that no matter whether the Congress understands the depth of the challenge facing the country, it is time for those who believe in democracy to raise their voices.