Rahul Gandhi defies every democratic institution, says Piyush Goyal, demands apology for "irresponsible statements"

Goyal accused Rahul Gandhi of disrespecting the constitutional offices in the country including the Prime Minister's Office.

The Minister's remarks came after the Surat court convicted Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the 'Modi surname'.

"Rahul Gandhi defies and disrespects every democratic institution, whether it is the Parliament or the judiciary. He should come out of this dynastic mindset and realise that no individual is bigger than the country, bigger than the people of India, bigger than the Constitution of India & nobody should consider himself above the law," he said.

"We have institutions of high integrity in this country whose work has never been questioned by anybody. Unfortunately, Rahul Gandhi has never respected high Constitutional offices, including the office of his own PM Dr Manmohan Singh. You remember the way he attacked the then UPA government and tore a lawful decision taken by the whole cabinet headed by the then PM Dr Manmohan Singh," Goyal added recalling the 2013 incident in which Gandhi tore the ordinance.

Talking about the recent remarks by Rahul Gandhi in the UK, Goyal said that his remarks are not acceptable to the people of the country.

"I think unless a member of the dynastic Gandhi family occupies these positions, they are not willing to accept and respect the high office of the PM. Even recently, the comments made on foreign soil by Rahul Gandhi attacking all institutions, Parliament in particular, have not been acceptable to people of India and certainly not to members of Parliament who expect that the dignity of Parliament is protected," he said.

The Minister urged Congress leader to realize that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most admired leader in the country.

"I would urge Rahul Gandhi if he represents the politics of truth and love as he claims, he must come to terms with the fact that today PM Narendra Modi is the most loved, admired & the most trusted leader in India and across the world," he said.

The Minister further demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi over his "irresponsible statements".

"I think Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of India for his series of irresponsible, defamatory statements," he said.

Meanwhile, Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy condemned the conviction of Rahul Gandhi and said that the party will fight it legally.

"When we are in public life, if every interpretation is litigated, the political system cannot function. The country needs to think about it. We are not scared of it. As Rahul Gandhi took forward Bharath Jodo Yatra, BJP is scared. The petitioner is a BJP MLA and it's a motivated petition. The Congress party will go to the high court and fight legally," Reddy said.

Congress MLA Sridhar Babu alleged that the BJP wants to scare the opposition through the use of central agencies.

"They want to scare opposition either through courts or through ED or CBI. Nirav Modi committed some offence, so Rahul Gandhi was trying to put it that way that a few people are looting money and fleeing the country. Rahul as the opposition leader, it's his prime duty to reflect on what is happening and what the government is doing. They are scared of Rahulji and Sonia ji. Whatever the court says we hold it in high esteem. We have the utmost confidence that Rahul will come out clean. The allegation will be proven false," he said.

Congress Mahila Morcha President Sunitha Rao alleged while speaking to ANI that the verdict on Rahul Gandhi came on the instruction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The verdict on Rahul Gandhi has come on the instruction of Modi. So we Mahila Congress have burned the effigy of Modi and condemned the verdict that has come against Rahul Gandhi. It's a baseless allegation," she said.

Senior Congress leader Pushpaleela said that the party has the support of the people and courts.

"We have people with us and courts are with us. What will Modi do? The Indian graph in the world has come down. In the 8-year rule, everything has become zero," Pushpaleela said.

Reacting to the conviction, BJP leader and spokesperson Rachna Reddy said that Gandhi has been found guilty in the criminal defamation case that was registered against him in 2019 for making "baseless and irrelevant" remarks.

"Making irrelevant allegations against the entire community called 'Modi' just because you seem to have this horrible inferiority complex as far as Narendra Modi is concerned and all the welfare or development activities that you or your grandmother or grandfather could have done in the entire span of 70years. So you are ranting," she said. (ANI)