'BJP has nothing to do with Court order'
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 24 2023:
BJP has nothing to do with the order passed by a district Court of Gujarat which sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to jail for two years and slapped a fine of Rs 15,000, said BJP Manipur Pradesh spokesman L Basanta.
Speaking to media persons at their Nityaipat Chuthek office today, L Basanta said that a BJP MLA of Gujarat filed a defamation case against a statement made by Rahul Gandhi during a campaign of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
For his remark that 'all thieves have the surname of Modi', the Court convicted Rahul Gandhi and sentenced him to two years in prison, Basanta said.
By staging protests against the Court order, the Congress and some other Opposition parties have been trying to blame the Central Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
Reacting to the Congress party's assertion that neither Rahul Gandhi nor Congress workers would be intimidated by either BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP spokesman clarified that the BJP neither intimidated nor did anything against the Congress party and their leaders.
Saying that whether Rahul Gandhi is guilty or not should be decided by the Court, not by the Government, Basanta asserted that the Court has already pronounced Rahul Gandhi guilty.
But the Congress party's reaction and approach violate the basic principles of democracy, he said.
Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished democracy from the country by imposing emergency from 1975 to 1977.During the emergency, a large number of people were ar-rested/detained and the freedom of press was usurped, he continued.
What Indira Gandhi did was summarised by the terms "Indira is India and India is Indira", and it was aimed at destroying the very foundation of democracy in the country, Basanta remarked.
In tandem with the growing popularity of the BJP Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is becoming a distinguished world leader, he claimed.
Jealous of Modi's governance which has reached every nook and comer of the country, the Congress party was making all kinds of wild allegations, the BJP spokesman said.
The Court's order has been suspended for 30 days and as such, Rahul Gandhi would not be arrested immediately, Basanta said.
Regarding Congress party's allegation that they were not allowed to take out a protest rally, he clarified that BT Road passes through the very heart of Imphal city and it was police, not BJP, which thwarted the rally.
The Congress party may go to higher Courts if they are not happy with the district Court's order but taking recourse to protest rallies would not augur well for the public, he said.
The particular case was not between Rahul Gandhi and BJP or the Prime Minister, he added.
BJP OBC Morcha State unit president RK Nongdrenkhomba said that Rahul Gandhi was not berating just one or two people but an entire community.
There are many OBC communities in the State and the Modi community is one of them, Nongdrenkhomba said.
He said that it would be wise for Rahul Gandhi to accept his faults and respect the Court's order.