"BJP, PM Modi irrelevant with Rahul verdict"
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, March 24 2023:
India is a democratic country, which upholds the verdict of law court, and neither BJP nor Prime Minister Modi is the authority to decide if Rahul Gandhi is guilty or not, said BJP Manipur Pradesh spokesperson L Bashanta.
Addressing a press conference at the party office here on Friday, Bashanta said that the country had a major political upheaval on Thursday after opposition political parties led by Congress raised allegation against the BJP government in response to a verdict given by a Gujarat district court against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Consequent to the allegation, BJP head office directed all state units to issue clarifications in this regard.
The Gujarat court held Rahul Gandhi guilty in a defamation case filed by Gujarat MLA Punesh Modi against a 'Modi surname' remark made by Rahul Gandhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha election rally.
In the rally, Rahul Gandhi questioned how 'Modi' surname was associated with big fraud cases.
After protracted procedures, the district court held Rahul Gandhi guilty of defamation and awarded two years' jail term along with a fine of Rs 15,000 .
Congress, in its protest, stated that the party and Rahul Gandhi will not be intimidated by Modi or BJP.
In this regard, the party wants to clarify that the case has nothing to do with BJP or PM Modi.
It is the court that holds him guilty and since India is a democratic country, they should uphold the verdict.
Even if Congress party is not satisfied with the verdict, they can file appeal to the high court or Supreme Court.
Instead of following such legal procedures, the party directed its tirade on BJP and it shows how the Congress party disregard court rulings, he said.
The spokesperson also recounted that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared emer gency in the country from 1975 to 1977 during which the then Congress government suppressed freedom pf media by shutting down newspaper houses and censored televisionreports.
The then government suppressed democracy under the slogan 'India is Indira, Indira is India'.
Unlike the Congress regime, the BJP government has never issued any such restrictions to media.
Arrest of media persons that happened under the BJP rule are carried out based on FIR registered with police.
It is the people centric system of the BJP government that makes PM Modi a popular global leader, he said, while terming the Congress attack on BJP as a desperate act.
Bashanta also pointed that the court verdict provides gives enough time of 30 days to Rahul Gandhi to make his appeal to a higher court and ridiculed the allegation levelled by Congress party against BJP.
BJP Manipur Pradesh OBC Morcha president RK Nongdrenkhomba was also present during the press conference.