Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren Friday attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre for the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha and said political differences have become battles for vendetta and opposition leaders have become targets of the saffron party.
He said this is 'Aapat Kaal' (emergency) for the nation.
"In today's 'Amrit Kaal' Opposition leaders are being coerced and silenced by using every tool of power by BJP and the Centre," Soren said in a tweet.
"The disqualification of Lok Sabha membership of Shri @Rahul Gandhi Ji demonstrates how political differences have now become battles foe vendetta by the Centre. In today's Amrit Kaal, opposition leaders are unilateral targets of the BJP. They are being coerced and silenced by using every tool of power," said Soren in a tweet.
The 'Amrit Kaal' term was repeatedly used by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech this year. It describes the hope for a better future, where India would be self-reliant and fulfil all of its humanitarian obligations.
Soren has often been vocal against the Centre in the past and said it has unleashed central agencies like the CBI and ED against the opposition leaders.
In another tweet he said, "It is clearly evident Amrit Kaal in new India applies only to leaders and members of BJP. It is Aapat Kaal for the entire opposition and citizens of this country, it is Apaat Kaal." Rahul Gandhi, who is the MP from Wayanad in Kerala, was disqualified from Parliament a day after a Surat court convicted him in a 2019 criminal defamation case.
The Jharkhand chief minister said on Thursday that the two-year sentence awarded to Rahul Gandhi was a matter of concern for democracy.
"Despite having full faith in the judicial system, I disagree with the decision to punish @Shri Rahul Gandhi ji in the defamation case. Non-BJP governments and leaders are being made victims of conspiracies.
“This is a matter of concern for democracy and politics of the country ... There is no value of democracy in front of 'dhantantra'," he had tweeted.
Following his disqualification, Gandhi will not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.
Congress has said it will fight the issue politically and legally, while BJP has said the decision to disqualify Gandhi was a legal one and not a political call.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.