WATCH: 'How will Rahul Gandhi's disqualification affect Indian politics, 2024 Lok Sabha polls?' Here's Smriti Irani's answer

Smriti Irani, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, has blamed the Congress party for Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the defamation case.

Addressing the Yuva Samvada event hosted by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, Irani stated that Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP was a "operation of the law," demonstrating that no one was above the law in the country. She further said that Gandhi believed he was above the law after being disqualified from the Lok Sabha because he did not defend himself in the case, as required by the ruling.

In response to a lawyer's inquiry on the effects of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification on the dynamics of Indian politics, particularly the approaching 2024 elections, Irani implied that it would have little effect.

Her reply to how it will impact the elections

"How does somebody change something when somebody is absent, always?...You should know that it's directive of the court and why is it a directive of the court because the person concerned made a racial slur against the OBC community. Let that fact first be placed on record. Now many amongst you who are seated here today possibly do not know each other's caste or religion background. Let me draw your attention to somebody on stage who's from the OBC community. So the racial slur Mr. Gandhi has hitched is not only on one individual but the entire community that includes the chancellor. So now, the case in a court of law is fought on merits and evidence. If you read the judgment, the judgment says that the person concerned did not defend himself which leads me to assume two things - that either somebody within his political organization just did not want to defend him knowing what the courts are capable of under the law. Or Rahul Gandhi thought he's above the law and that no court in this country will hold him accountable," said Irani.

The union minister went on to say that once the court has imposed a certain conviction, it is the Speaker's responsibility to follow constitutional practise. "The Speaker of the House of the Lok Sabha, precisely is an entity that manifests the will of the Indian people through the constitution. This is not a speaker who wakes up one morning and says, let me write the law as I deem fit. This is a speaker who presides over the Lok Sabha on the basis of the Constitution, on the basis of Acts of Parliament and this is a speaker that also responds automatically to the judicial precedent set by law that is incumbent upon the speaker to follow," she said.

Referring to Gandhi's recent remarks in London that he cannot speak in Indian Universities, she said, "Gandhi had been to universities in India, interacted with students, but no government stopped him from interacting. This means that he was lying in England."