‘I’m disqualified because PM is scared of my next speech on Adani’: Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi said his disqualification from Lok Sabha will help the Congress as it has given the party new ammunition
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that he has been disqualified from the Lok Sabha because Prime Minister Narendra Modi “is scared of my next speech on Adani”. Gandhi also said his disqualification would help the party as it has given the Congress new ammunition.

Gandhi announced he will continue to ask who invested ₹20,000 crore in Adani Group through shell companies and what is the PM’s relationship with (Gautam) Adani.
A day after he was disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a trial court of Surat, Gandhi said in a press conference, “Please understand I am disqualified because the PM is scared of my next speech on Adani. They do not want my speech. There is a deep relationship between Adani and Modi.”
Gandhi was disqualified on Friday, after a Surat court convicted him and sentenced him to two years for criminal defamation. After this, in keeping with the law, and a Supreme Court order in 2013, he was disqualified.
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi presser: 10 things Cong leader said about Adani, disqualification
Gandhi thanked Opposition leaders who came out in his support and said, “We will work together. He also claimed the disqualification will help the Congress even as the BJP has stepped up its attack, accusing him of insulting OBCs.
“This is panic reaction. It will help us. It has given us new ammo. People are now asking, why PM is defending this corrupt Adani?” Gandhi said, claiming that the BJP won’t be able to stop him. “I don’t have that history. I will continue to fight for Indian democracy.”
The Congress leader also claimed that Lok Sabha Speaker expressed his inability when he met him to seek time to reply to the allegations levelled against him by four ministers in the House.
“I gave documents about defence industry, (change of rules in) airports, statements made in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Immediately after that, the BJP started its work. I wrote to speaker with detailed explanation with documents. After that, BJP ministers lied about me in Parliament. The whole game was to distract from real issues -- whose money came in Adani group?” Gandhi said.
In a sharp attack on the BJP, the Congress leader said, “The BJP’s job is to spread lies. They (BJP leaders) are all afraid of Modi. They know the relationship between Modi and Adani”.
He refuted the BJP’s charge that he sought intervention from the West and argued, “I said there that this is India’s problem and India has to resolve it. I told the Speaker you are the defender of democracy. Allow me to speak. He told me he can’t do that and invited me for tea.”
Gandhi maintained that it is his Tapasya to speak truth although “it is not fashionable in politics”. The Congress leader said he will write a letter to the people of Wayanad, which he represented, on his disqualification as they are like his family.
ABOUT THE AUTHORSaubhadra ChatterjiSaubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies.

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