One hour agoAuthor: Navneet Gurjar, National Editor, Dainik Bhaskar
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A day before, there was a settlement meeting of Rajasthan Congress and on the second day, another decision was taken on the punishment of Rahul Gandhi. In the Modi surname case, after the sessions court, the High Court has also upheld Rahul’s two-year sentence. The High Court said that Rahul Gandhi is seeking stay of sentence on such grounds which do not exist. The question is what will happen next?
Congress says that it will now go to the Supreme Court regarding this matter. If Rahul gets relief from the Supreme Court, then his MP can be restored and he can also contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but if he does not get any relief from the Supreme Court, then he will not be able to contest the elections for the next eight years.
It is not only about this case, four more cases of defamation are going on against Rahul Gandhi. In 2014, Rahul accused the Sangh of killing Mahatma Gandhi. A Sangh worker had filed a case against Rahul regarding this statement. This case is going on in Bhiwandi court of Maharashtra.
In 2016, Rahul had said that he had accused members of the Sangh regarding the Barpeta Satra, a Vaishnava monastery in Assam in the 16th century. This case is still pending. Similarly, one case of 2018 is going on in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand and another case is going on in Shivdi, Maharashtra. This case is based on the statement made regarding the murder of Gauri Lankesh.
Overall, the decision given by the Session Court of Gujarat in the Modi surname case will now completely rest on the Supreme Court. If there is no relief from here and Rahul Gandhi could not contest elections for eight years, then what will happen to the ongoing efforts for opposition unity?
The picture is of April 3, when Rahul Gandhi filed a petition against the sentence in Surat court. Then his sister Priyanka was also present with him.
Recently, when there was a meeting of opposition parties in Patna, RJD chief Lalu Yadav told Rahul Gandhi that you become the bridegroom, we will all walk in the wedding procession. He meant to be the vanguard of opposition unity. Now, if Rahul will not be able to contest the elections then why would anyone agree to make him a bridegroom?
Well, the opposition unity has been shaken by the developments in Maharashtra, but if Rahul loses in the Supreme Court too, the damage will be huge and it will be very difficult to recover. The idea of fielding a common candidate against the ruling party is good, but it seems very difficult to reach its conclusion.