On Saturday, Prashant Kishor, a popular political strategist now turned activist, expressed his view that the two-year imprisonment given to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case was "excessive". Kishor, who is currently conducting a grassroots campaign in his home state of Bihar, also commented that the Congress party appeared to be inadequately equipped to effectively convey to the public that it had been wronged, as per PTI's report.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐บ๐ "๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ": ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ
โI am not a legal expert but with due respect to the process of law, the sentence awarded to Rahul Gandhi seems to be excessive. In the heat of elections, people say all types of things. This was not the first instance and not going to be the last,โ Kishore was quoted as saying by PTI.
๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ'๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐
Kishor invoked the words of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and implored the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to display a "big heart" in regards to Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.
"Two years in prison seems to be excessive for what is essentially a defamation case", said Kishor, adding โI would like to remind the government at the Centre of a famous line by Atal Bihari Vajpayee that nobody becomes great with a petty heart (chhote man se koi bada nahin ban jaata)."
"The ruling dispensation may hide behind technicalities and insist that Rahul Gandhi's disqualification was inevitable, given his conviction. I would still say they should have taken a leaf out of the book of late Vajpayee, their own revered leader and not rushed to disqualify Rahul Gandhi," Kishor said.
๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ'๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐
"They (the BJP) are in power today. The onus was on them to have shown a big heart. They should have waited for a few days and allowed the aggrieved party to go in appeal and acted only if no relief was in sight", the poll strategist said.
Kishor gained widespread recognition for his management of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's highly effective Lok Sabha election campaign in 2014. However, when his proposal to restructure the Congress party failed to gain traction, Kishor opted to return to Bihar and launch his own "Jan Suraaj" initiative.
๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ'๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ต๐ถ
"The Congress seems to have little realization of what it is up against. Its top brass needs to understand that you cannot fight a political battle simply by sitting in Delhi, tweeting furiously and staging marches to the Parliament", Kishor highlighted.
Following a damning report from US short seller Hindenburg Research accusing Indian business magnate Adani of perpetrating the largest corporate fraud in history, the Congress party has sought to pressure the government on the issue. During his initial press conference after being disqualified from the Lok Sabha, Gandhi brought up the matter once more, contending that Prime Minister Modi "is afraid of my forthcoming speech on Adani", which he believes led to his loss in the lower house of Parliament.
