'Rahul Gandhi's family should be treated differently by law': Congress MP

Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwary suggested to consider Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his family's background while sentencing in a case.

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Saturday defended Rahul Gandhi and his family amid the disqualification setback for the party and said that the law should be different for the Gandhi family in terms of sentencing in a case. He recalled how the Congress leader's grandmother and father, then Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi ‘sacrificed their lives for the nation’ and suggested that Rahul Gandhi and his family's background should be taken into account while sentencing.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari(PTI)

“Rahul Gandhi's family should be treated differently by the law. His grandmother and father have sacrificed their lives for the nation. The law must give minimum punishment. BJP is scared that their theft may be caught,” the Rajya Sabha MP was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Tiwari's remark came in support of Gandhi after he was disqualified from Lok Sabha following a two-year sentence by a court in Gujarat's Surat over his ‘Modi surname’ remark. He further claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government has helped in the alleged Adani scam and that they are ‘roaming free’.

Responding to Tiwari's comment, the BJP pulled ‘height of entitlement’ jibe against Gandhi. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla asked if the Gandhi family is a ‘monarch’.

“Congress MP Pramod Tewari says there should be a separate law for Gandhis for sentencing ( he adds a caveat of conviction) but why should there be a separate law for Gandhis on sentencing? Are they above law & constitution? Are they monarchs? Gandhis want license to abuse OBC samaj?” he asked in a tweet.

The Congress leader was disqualified after a local court in Gujarat convicted him a two-year jail term over a remark he made against Modi surnames in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Lok Sabha secretariat said in a notification that he has been disqualified from the day of the conviction under the Constitution’s Article 102(1)(e) read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act.