Days after the US State Department stated it was “watching” the court case of Rahul Gandhi, Germany has said it has “taken note” of the issue, triggering a fresh political slugfest here today with the ruling party accusing the opposition party of “inviting foreign powers” to interfere in internal matters.
The BJP and the Congress clashed over Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson remarks that “we have taken note of the verdict of first instance against Indian opposition politician Rahul Gandhi as well as the suspension of his parliamentary mandate”.
“To our knowledge, Mr Gandhi is in a position to appeal the verdict. It will then become clear whether this verdict will stand and whether the suspension of his mandate has any basis,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by German state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Won’t tolerate foreign influence
Remember, the Indian judiciary can’t be influenced by foreign interference. India won’t tolerate ‘foreign influence’ anymore as our PM is Modi ji. —Kiren Rijiju, Union law minister
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh thanked the German Foreign Ministry and Richard Walker, Chief International Editor of Deutsche Welle, for “taking note of how democracy is being compromised in India through the persecution of Rahul Gandhi”. Germany expects that “standards of judicial independence and fundamental democratic principles” will equally apply to the proceedings against Rahul Gandhi, added the spokesperson. Replying to Digivijaya Singh’s tweet, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Twitter: “Thank you Rahul Gandhi for inviting foreign powers for interference in India’s internal matters. Remember, the Indian Judiciary can’t be influenced by foreign interference. India won’t tolerate ‘foreign influence’ anymore because our Prime Minister is Shri Narendra Modi Ji.”
As Union Ministers Anurag Thakur and Piyush Goyal besides the BJP IT cell chief mounted criticism, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote on Twitter: “The Congress firmly believes that India’s democratic processes themselves have to deal with the threats posed to our democracy by Mr Modi’s assault on our institutions and his politics of vendetta, intimidation, threats and harassment.”
Attacking Rijiju for his comments, Congress media department head Pawan Khera said: “Mr Rijiju, why divert from the main issue? The issue is that the Prime Minister cannot answer Rahul Gandhi’s questions about Adani.”
Meanwhile, speaking at a media event on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said no foreign diplomat had raised with him the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha, which was an outcome of a law “supported” by the Congress leader in the past.
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