Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification has been branded “Karma striking him back” by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sarma because he disregarded the ordinance to stop the quick disqualification of a convicted MP. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, has launched a no-holds-barred attack on Rahul Gandhi, saying that his expulsion from Parliament was “Karma striking him back” because he disregarded the ordinance Manmohan Singh, the previous prime minister, introduced in 2013 to protect convicted MPs from immediate disqualification.
Himanta Sarma stated, “As far as the matter of disqualification is concerned, If Karma strikes him back, then where is our fault? In Hinduism, we do 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 dishonoured it.”
As he discussed the Modi-surname comment case in which Rahul Gandhi was found guilty, “You go and personally ask the OBC leaders of the Congress whether they are happy? Who will be 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. The Judiciary has done the right thing. If you do not like the decision of the judiciary, then go to a higher court.”
Rahul Gandhi was criticised by Sarma for not issuing an apology, “We also do politics and sometimes we may speak out a couple of wrong words but that is not a big thing, but immediately after that, either the party men remind you that you have said something wrong or we may ourselves realise that we shouldn’t have said that. In such a case, what we generally do is either we release a press statement or come before the media and apologise.”
“In the past five years, Rahul Gandhiji did not apologise to anyone. This apology was not meant for Narendra Modi ji, the apology was due to the entire OBC community. Today even after the court verdict, Rahul Gandhi is sitting like a fighter jet. I will fight the judiciary now. If you think that only you have pride, then the OBC community of our country also have their self-pride. This is the reality and there is no politics behind it,” he added. “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 such unacceptable remarks against any community, this is not right,” he stated.
Rahul Gandhi was expelled from the Lok Sabha earlier on Thursday following his conviction in a defamation case by a Surat court. He was declared ineligible to serve in the House as of March 23, the day of his conviction, according to a notice from the Lok Sabha Secretariat. He must now appeal to a higher court to have his conviction overturned.