Country passing through very difficult times, says Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday launched a blistering attack on the Centre over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, saying it was "shocking" and that the country was passing through very difficult times.

He referred to the Congress MP's disqualification in a speech in the Delhi Assembly and said the BJP was scared. Later talking to reporters, he said it was "quite a worrisome situation". "It's not just a fight of the Congress or Rahul Gandhi, it's a fight of the entire opposition," he said. Kejriwal alleged that the BJP wanted to create a situation wherein there is just one party in the country. This is "dictatorship" and the BJP government is "more dangerous" than the British rulers before Independence, he charged. He also condemned the disqualification in a tweet.

"The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha is shocking. The country is passing through very difficult times. They have terrorised the entire country. One hundred and thirty crore people will have to unite against this arrogant power," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after he was convicted by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case for his alleged remark, "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma, which held Gandhi guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court, the Congress leader's lawyer Babu Mangukiya said.

AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "It is very unfortunate. We have differences with Congress and they have attacked us several times whenever we have been targeted. But Rahul Gandhi's disqualification is dictatorship of the BJP and they will not succeed in suppressing the voice of opposition".