"Murder of democracy," says opposition on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification

Showing unprecedented unity, the entire opposition rallied behind the Congress party over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha.

Calling the disqualification a 'surgical strike on democracy' CPIML leader Dipaknar Bhattacharya said, "The sentence against Rahul Gandhi in the alleged Modi defamation case was announced yesterday and within a day he is now disqualified from the Lok Sabha! Nothing short of a surgical strike on democracy! Time for the entire opposition to rally against this unbridled emergency!"

Congress ally in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena's spokesman Sanjay Raut called the disqualification a "murder of democracy."

"Calling a thief a thief has become a crime. Thieves looting the country are still free and Rahul has been punished. This is a direct murder of democracy. All government systems are under pressure and this is the beginning of the end of dictatorship," said Raut.

"In PM Modi’s New India, opposition leaders have become the prime target of the 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," West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has said.

"The BJP is desperate to silence the voice of the opposition. This is the lowest in the history of parliamentary democracy," said Derek O'Brien.

"Rahul Gandhi called Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Mehul Choksi thieves. And asked why it is that the names of all thieves are Modi. Didn't say that all Modis are thieves. Still, on the complaint of defamation of Modi, he was sentenced to 2 years! So that he is dismissed from the Parliament? This is the condition of Indian democracy," Prashant Bhushan has said.