Amid tension regarding the dismissal of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a member of the Parliament, the former MP from Wayanad has stated that ‘he is a Gandhi and Gandhis do not apologise’.
"Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday responding to a query on repeated calls by the BJP seeking his apology over various issues.
Rahul Gandhi has been convicted by a Surat Court over remarks he made during an election campaign in 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
The former Congress chief said while addressing a press conference after being disqualified from Lok Sabha said, "My name in not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi. Gandhis don't apologise to anyone."
Gandhi has often targeted late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, saying that he helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear.
He further stated that he is not scared of going to prison and that his disqualification from Parliament was aimed at distracting people from the Adani issue.
Asked what he thinks about calls from the BJP seeking his apology for allegedly seeking foreign intervention and whether he could have regretted his remarks in court for which he has been convicted for defamation, he refused to apologise invoking the Gandhi surname.
At the presser, he said that he had made appeals that he be allowed to speak in Parliament but was not given permission.
"Wrote to the Speaker twice, then went to him personally and said 'you are the protector of democracy, allow me to speak', he smiles and says 'I can't do it'. If you cannot do it, who can do it, I may have to go to Modi ji then but he will not allow me to speak," Gandhi said.
"So, my point is that, democracy is finished in this country, people cannot speak what is on their minds, institutions in this country are being attacked and the mechanism of that attack is the relationship between Narendra Modi and Adani," the Congress leader said.
On Friday, Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark. The disqualification from Lok Sabha will bar Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction.
In April 2019, he made the remark "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka. The court approved Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts.
(With agency inputs)
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.