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'Why did 'chote sarkar'…' - BJP's sharp jab at Rahul over Surat court appearance
BJP national spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi accused Rahul Gandhi of being ‘arrogant’ by indulging in ‘show of strength’ before the Surat court on Monday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has continued to attack the Congress and Rahul Gandhi for the latter's in-person appearance at a Gujarat court Monday to appeal last month's conviction in the 2019 'Modi surname' defamation case. BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi mocked Gandhi's 'show of strength - he arrived at the Surat sessions court flanked by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the chief ministers of three Congress-ruled states - and slammed his display of 'arrogance'.
Trivedi echoed comments by union law minister Kiren Rijiju and claimed Rahul Gandhi's court appearance was an attempt to pressure the judicial process and called it 'ethically and constitutionally wrong'. "After insulting the OBC community… had you (Gandhi) gone to display your arrogance or pressurise the judiciary or threaten the investigation agencies?" he asked.
The BJP leader also referred to Rahul Gandhi as 'chote sarkar' - a derogatory swipe at the Gandhi family scion - and said the challenging of the Surat court's verdict could have been completed with the Congress leader appearing as a 'common man'.
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"... but he had all other corrupt Congress leaders with him. Why did 'chote sarkar' go to court with several Congress leaders? Was he showing his strength to the judiciary after insulting OBCs?"
The Congress has trashed talk of any attempt to influence the judicial process; Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor called such charges 'absurd' and said attending court was not equal to 'putting pressure'.
On Monday senior Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (the CMs of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh) accompanied Rahul Gandhi to the Surat court; Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her brother flew in from Delhi on an IndiGo flight.
They were challenging the courts' 'guilty' verdict in the 'Modi surname' case.
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Rahul Gandhi had been accused of criminal defamation after his 'why do all thieves have Modi as their surname' remark in Karnataka's Kolar district before the 2019 general election. He was given a suspended two-year jail sentence and also got bail so he could file an appeal. The sessions court that accepted his appeal Monday has extended his bail to April 13, when his appeal will be heard.
Gandhi must overturn or stay the conviction and sentence if he is to reclaim his position as a member of the Lok Sabha; he was disqualified less than 24 hours after the court's verdict, triggering a massive political row between his party (and a united opposition) and the ruling BJP.
The Congress leader's first reaction after leaving the Surat court Monday was to stress that his legal fight is part of a larger struggle to save democracy from 'mitrakal' - a dig at prime minister Narendra Modi and his BJP, who have been accused by Gandhi of cronyism and favouring rich friends.
