Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday claimed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the OBC community and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar and should be "punished".
Replying to a debate on the Opposition sponsored "Last Week" resolution in the Legislative Assembly, the chief minister said the law under which Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as an MP was enacted by the Congress-led UPA government and the Modi government has implemented it.
"Rahul Gandhi has been convicted and stands automatically disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha. But he continues to insult V D Savarkar by saying that he is not Savarkar to apologise. Who does he think he is? He must be punished," Shinde said.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP after a Surat court on Thursday sentenced him to two years in jail for criminal defamation over his 2019 "Modi surname" remark. The sentence is suspended for 30 days to allow Rahul to appeal in a higher court.
Shinde said Rahul Gandhi had insulted the OBC (Other Backward Classes) community by targeting the prime minister.
"Savarkar is a patriot. Why insult a patriotic person? Maharashtra will not tolerate the insult of PM Modi and Savarkar. People will not let him (Rahul Gandhi) move on the streets of Maharashtra," he said.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi said that "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone".
Shinde took a dig at the Opposition, which comprises Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and Congress, for demanding the suspension of some legislators of the ruling alliance who had hit a poster of Rahul Gandhi with slippers on the stairs of the Maharashtra Legislature complex some days ago.
"As the Opposition doesn't want to listen to the development work of our government, their members fled from the House," the chief minister said referring to members of the Opposition staging a walkout earlier in the day.
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