'BJP finished our democracy': Assam opposition on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification

Following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha over conviction in a defamation case, opposition parties in Assam on Friday slammed the ruling BJP and alleged the saffron brigade has "finished the democracy".

The Congress, the principal opposition party in Assam, asserted that Gandhi has been consistently fighting for people's rights and to protect Indian democracy, both within and outside Parliament.

"He will continue to do so. Truth shall, must and will prevail. Appropriate legal action will be taken," the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) tweeted.

"He is the voice of opposition.. He is the voice of this nation.. A voice that can't be suppressed, a voice that reverberates through the heart & soul of this nation. How long will you keep silent PM Narendra Modi?" the APCC asked.

APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah claimed that the conviction and subsequent disqualification from Parliament is the outcome of speaking for the people of the country.

"BJP has finished our democracy. BJP's conspiracy to silence @RahulGandhi," he said on the micro-blogging site.

Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi termed the disqualification of the Congress MP from the Lok Sabha following the judgement in the 'Modi Surname Case' an aberration for democracy.

"Defamation suit becomes a tool for political vendetta. It's the start of the ruin of the 'Modi Regime'. A repetition of Emergency era 1975-77," he said.

President of another opposition party, Assam Jatiya Parishad, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, said Gandhi's disqualification from Parliament shows the BJP-led government's desperation and lays bare its attempt to muzzle opposition voices.

Criticising the action on the former Congress president, Assam Trinamool Congress leader Dilip Kumar Sarma said the success of India's democracy depends on the independence of executive, legislature and judiciary.

"When everything runs on the instructions of the executive, then the destruction of democracy starts. The Lok Sabha secretariat has done such an act today. Lok Sabha, which works to uphold democracy, today in a way killed democracy," he added.

Rahul Gandhi was on Friday disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case. The disqualification will bar 52-year-old Gandhi from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.

The court in Surat sentenced Gandhi on Thursday 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?"

With PTI inputs