Rahul Gandhi on Friday received the unexpected support of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee soon after Parliament disqualified the Congress leader, a day after a magistrate’s court jailed him for two years in a defamation case linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname.
Describing the disqualification as “PM Modi’s New India”, Banerjee alleged that Opposition leaders have become “the prime target of the BJP”.
“In PM Modi’s New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy,” the Trinamool Congress chief tweeted.
Baneerjee’s reaction can be seen as a significant development as Gandhi’s conviction had generated a deafening silence from the Trinamool Congress, which is not known to share a cozy relationship with the Congress.
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Earlier in March, the TMC had accused the Congress-Left combine of having an ‘immoral alliance’ with the BJP and said that her party will not enter into any partnership with the two opposition parties to fight the saffron camp in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Banerjee’s tweet came a day after Gandhi got the backing of another political rival and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday. Showing a shift in stance, the AAP national convenor openly supported the Congress MP after he was sentenced to two years in jail in a defamation case and alleged a conspiracy was being hatched to “eliminate” non-BJP leaders and parties by prosecuting them.
The court in Surat sentenced on Thursday Gandhi to two years in jail in a defamation case, filed on a complaint by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his alleged remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
Following his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.
Reacting to Gandhi’s disqualification, the Congress said it will fight the battle both “legally and politically”.