Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Disqualification’ from Lok Sabha ‘Deep Betrayal’ of Gandhian Philosophy: US Congressman

GG News Bureau

Washington, 25th March. The disqualification of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha is a “deep betrayal” of Gandhian philosophy, an influential Indian-origin Congressman said on Friday.

Gandhi, the former Congress president, was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, nearly 24 hours after a Surat court found him guilty in a defamation case.

“The expulsion of Rahul Gandhi from parliament is a deep betrayal of Gandhian philosophy and India’s deepest values,” Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said in a tweet.

“This is not what my grandfather sacrificed years in jail for,” Khanna said. Khanna represents Silicon Valley in the US House of Representatives.

Khanna, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in this matter.

“You have the power to reverse this decision for the sake of Indian democracy,” Khanna said in another tweet.

Gandhi, a four-time MP, will be barred from running for office for the next eight years unless a higher court overturns his conviction and sentence.

Meanwhile, George Abraham, vice-chair of the Indian Overseas Congress in the United States, described Gandhi’s disqualification as a “sad day for Indian democracy.”

“It is a sad day for democracy in India. By disqualifying Rahul Gandhi, Modi sarkar is ringing the death knell for the right to free speech and freedom of Indians everywhere,” Abraham said.

“Bringing a frivolous court case against a remark in the heat of a political campaign is shameful and not on par with the spirit of the Constitution regarding freedom of expression,” he added.