Disqualified Congress MP Rahul Gandhi finds support in Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray

Pawar referred to the disqualification of his party MP from Lakshadweep, Mohammed Faizal P P, following the latter’s conviction in an attempted murder case. Faizal’s conviction was later suspended by the Kerala High Court.

“The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi and Faizal a few months ago as MPs of the Lok Sabha are against the basic tenets of the constitution, where democratic values are being curtailed. This is condemnable and against the very principles on which the constitution is based,” Pawar tweeted.

“Our constitution guarantees the right of each individual to fair justice; liberty of thought; equality of status and opportunity and fraternity assuring the dignity of each Indian. #RahulGandhi,” Pawar further said in a series of tweets. “We all need to stand together to defend our democratic institutions,” he added.

Minutes after the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP, opposition parties in the state assembly walked out from the house to condemn the act and said that the disqualification is against democracy.

“We are going towards an autocratic system. Our leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as Loksabha MP by the Loksabha speaker. This is an unfortunate incident. This is against democracy. We condemn the disqualification and we are walking out from the house, “Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee(MPCC) President Nana Patole said in the state assembly

Patole also said that Congress will hit the streets against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

“We strongly condemn the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP. He spoke about Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, which is a fact. Fugitives like Nirav Modi and many others who siphoned off thousands of crore rupees from banks are not arrested and brought back to the country. What wrong Rahul Gandhi said ? What he said was twisted and now he has been disqualified. This is how democracy is compromised. Disqualification is a sin that his government has done. We will hit the street against this, “Patole said outside Vidhan Bhavan.

“Rahul Gandhi has been finally disqualified. Calling a thief a thief has become a crime in our country. Thieves are still free but Rahul Gandhi has been punished. This is a murder of democracy. All government systems are under pressure. This is the beginning of the dictatorship.. now we will have to give direction to the fight against it,” said Shiv Sena UBT President and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Uddhav’s son and MLA Aaditya also targeted the government. “Every high-handed step(by the government) is evident that we are rapidly moving towards a planned end to democracy and constitutional ideals of our country. This is not only about one disqualification or Rahul Gandhi. This is about all of us as citizens, and whether we can say that democracy is alive(in the country),” Aaditya said in a tweet.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi president Prakash Ambedkar also launched a scathing attack against BJP for displaying undue haste in the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. ” As per the Surat court order, Gandhi had the right to appeal in higher court. It was the right given by the judiciary. Had Gandhi’s appeal been upheld or rejected by a higher court then the question of exercising powers to disqualify could be considered. However, BJP has not allowed any process to be completed. They took hasty decisions to disqualify membership of Rahul Gandhi who was elected representative in Lok Sabha. All this smacks of politics. It is unfair to Congress leaders. It is against democratic norms,” he said.