Rahul episode: End heralds the beginning

Subhashis Mittra

The process of bringing the opposition together has been unwittingly started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. The abrupt end to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership could just be the beginning of opposition unity. But there is a catch -- opposition leaders should not get swayed by short term political gains.

The Congress party suffered a major blow on Friday when parliament disqualified Gandhi a day after a Gujarat court convicted him of defamation for comments that many deemed insulting to Prime Minister Modi.

The episode triggered instant shift in the dynamics of Opposition ranks with Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party also expressing strong support for the embattled leader, along with several other Opposition parties, including the Left parties, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), and NCP, among others, backing the former Congress chief.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in a tweet highlighted how the BJP is targetting leaders of the opposition.

"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," she said in a tweet.

Support for Gandhi came from parties which have stood by the Congress through the last few weeks as the party led the opposition on the Adani issue.

Voices of anger, shock and disbelief came from parties such as the RJD, JMM, CPI, CPI-M, Shiv Sena, DMK, and NCP, among others.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described Gandhi's disqualification as shocking and called on the public to rise against the BJP's "arrogant" power. "The expulsion of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha is shocking. The country is passing through very difficult times. They have kept the whole country scared. 130 crore people will have to unite against their arrogant power," he said in a tweet.

The Congress said it was "a black day for Indian democracy" and alleged that the action was driven by "political vendetta."

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav called for "fighting on the street" against the BJP. "The person who has alleged defamation should actually accuse those of it who betrayed their country and fled abroad, causing harm to their name and fame," he said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin termed Gandhi's disqualification a "death knell" for democracy as he accused BJP of being vengeful in its politics. "The disqualification of @RahulGandhi as MP before he could go for an appeal is death knell for democracy. The metamorphosis of BJP's vindictive politics into autocracy is happening at an alarming pace. If one goes by history, it is very clear what is in store for such autocrats," he said in a tweet.

BRS Party National President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said that the disqualification of Gandhi was a "Black day" in the history of Indian democracy and shows the height of Narendra Modi's "arrogance and dictatorship." "Sri Rahul Gandhi's disqualification is an attack on Democratic principles and Constitutional values of India. It reflects the autocratic and egoistic personality of Sri @narendramodi," Rao said in a tweet sent through his party's official handle.

"The Prime Minister has decimated almost all the constitutional institutions. He had been using all the investigating agencies against the political parties who are opposing his terrible and distressing regime. Today, the PM has demeaned the 'Temple of Democracy' i.e. the Indian Parliament, by disqualifying an opposition leader. It is a testing time for Constitutional values and Parliamentary Democracy," the politician wrote, and accused the Modi government of hiding the "largest con of corporate history."

"It's time all the opposition parties, keeping aside their differences, condemn this undemocratic and unparliamentary measure," Rao added.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the disqualification of Gandhi was a "vendetta battle" and it had exposed the reality of "Amrit Kaal." "The disqualification of Lok Sabha membership of Shri @RahulGandhiji demonstrates how political differences are now vendetta battles for ruling Central Government. In today's Amrit Kaal Opposition leaders are unilateral targets of BJP, being coerced and silenced using every tool of power," he said in the first of a series of tweets.

"It is clearly evident that Amrit Kaal in New India applies only to leaders and members of BJP. Whereas for the entire Opposition and citizens of this country, it is Apaat Kaal," Soren said.

NCP leader Supriya Sule tweeted, "Totally Disappointing. First P P Mohammed Faizal, Now @RahulGandhi."

Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena (UBT) party, dubbed Gandhi's disqualification as "murder" of democracy and said this is the beginning of the end of "dictatorship." In a statement, Thackeray said it has become a crime to call a thief a thief, while those "looting" the country are out. "This is the murder of democracy. All agencies are under pressure. This is the beginning of the end of the dictatorship the battle only needs a direction (now)," Thackeray said.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, "It's condemnable that the BJP is now using the criminal defamation route to target opposition leaders and disqualify them as done with @RahulGandhi now."

"This comes on top of the gross misuse of ED/CBI against the opposition. Resist and defeat such authoritarian assaults," the veteran Left leader said in a tweet.

RJD leader Manoj Jha said there is no bigger blot on parliamentary democracy in history than Gandhi's disqualification.  Jha said Gandhi's fear that democracy was under threat in India has been proved right by the government. "The BJP has no respect for democracy in its heart, word and action," he alleged, and called for a unity among opposition parties to dismantle this "dictatorship."

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed Gandhi's disqualification a "violent attack on democracy" by the Sangh Parivar. "Suppressing dissent by force is a fascist method," Vijayan said in a statement.

BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali termed Gandhi's disqualification unfortunate, and said if the MPs were to lose their membership on such matters as defamation, then 70 per cent of parliamentarians will lose their membership, mostly from the BJP, he claimed. "If such an issue becomes a yardstick to disqualify an MP, then filing defamation cases will become a means to strip lawmakers of their membership," Ali said.

However, BJP leaders, while criticising Gandhi over his remarks allegedly against the OBC community, stuck to the explanation that his disqualification was a result of a court order and not a political call. The party suggested that a conspiracy within the Congress might have played a role in its leaders' not approaching a higher court for relief for Gandhi after his conviction unlike in the case of Pawan Khera when the party had acted within hours of the Assam Police arresting him.

A 2013 Supreme Court order says that a lawmaker convicted in a crime and sentenced to two or more years in jail stand disqualified from the parliament with immediate effect. Gandhi will not be allowed to contest elections until his sentence is suspended or he is acquitted in the case. Lok Sabha elections are due in India next year.

The case against Gandhi dates back to an election rally in 2019 where he said, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” In his speech, he then went on to name fugitive Indian diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, banned Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi, and Narendra Modi. PM Modi is not related to either of the other two. Gandhi, who was present in the court when the verdict was announced, said his remarks were meant to highlight corruption and were not directed against any community.

After former PM Indira Gandhi, Rahul is the second from the Gandhi-Nehru family to have been disqualified from Lok Sabha, while his mother Sonia escaped being unseated by quitting her seat in a case of alleged office of profit.

Forty-four years ago, on December 20, 1978, the Lok Sabha had passed a motion to send Indira Gandhi to Tihar Jail on charges of planning to "kill all opposition leaders in jail during Emergency". She was expelled from the House. 279 votes went in favour and 138 members voted against. She was released from Tihar jail after spending one week in prison for breach of privilege and contempt of House.

Indira Gandhi had been elected to Lok Sabha from Chikamagalur in a bye-election in November, 1978.

Indira Gandhi had also lost her MP status back in 1975. On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court invalidated her 1971 electoral victory and barred her from holding elected office for six years for electoral malpractices.

Indira Gandhi lost her seat after Justice Sinha upheld a petition of her opponent, veteran socialist leader Raj Narain, who had accused her of using electoral malpractices in Rae Bareli LS constituency.

The verdict unleashed an upheaval, leading to the imposition of the Emergency and drastic changes in the Constitution, including one which put the election to the Prime Minister, the President and the Speaker beyond judicial scrutiny.

The then prime minister was unseated leading to the Emergency, from June 1975 to March 1977. All opposition leaders were jailed. They came together after being released, guided by Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan, who played the role of Bhishma Pitamaha. There was a general mood against the Congress which helped the Opposition unite and defeat Indira and her son late Sanjay Gandhi.

But that was a different Congress -- no Indira Gandhi now. Will history repeat itself? Only time will tell.