India's main opposition party Congress came under fire from a federal minister for giving “special treatment” to Rahul Gandhi following his disqualification as parliamentarian after his conviction in a defamation case.
Talking to the media, Civil Aviation and Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia suggested that Congress has been left without an ideology, except one of a "traitor" that works against the country.
“This party has insulted backward classes, sought proof of our armed forces' bravery and spoken about our soldiers being beaten up by China,” the minister added.
Slamming Congress for taking scores of its politicians and workers to Surat (Gujarat) after Gandhi filed an appeal with the court, the minister lamented that it was “projecting 'personal legal battle of Rahul Gandhi as a fight for democracy. It is leaving no stone unturned to play with democracy and hitting new lows.”
Scindia further questioned the party’s protest at the parliamentary premises against the suspension of Gandhi: “Several other leaders have previously been disqualified as well. Why so much is being done for one person?”
Notably, Scindia was a Congress member from 2001 to 2020. He even held the portfolios of minister of state for communications and information technology and minister of state for commerce and industry in 2007 and 2009, respectively, while in the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government.