Rahul’s charge an attack on judiciary: Government

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the National Herald case is “hundred per cent political vendetta coming out of PMO” but declared that he has full faith in the judiciary. He also rejected the charge that Congress was using Parliament to threaten judiciary saying “it is the other way round”.

“Pure political vendetta coming out of PMO. It is their way of doing politics. We will see at the end what comes out. Truth will come out,” Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament.

Asked about Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu’s charge that Congress was using Parliament to threaten judiciary (by disruption), he said, “It is the other way round. Who is threatening judiciary. We all know.”

Congress members disrupted proceedings in both the houses of Parliament yesterday and got the Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 PM today.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari asked Congress to resolve the matter in court as Government and Parliament have nothing to do with it. “The House or government has nothing got to do with this (‘National Herald’ case) either directly or indirectly. It’s a court decision. Wasting Parliament’s time is not good for democracy,” he said. Reacting to Congress’s allegation of “vendetta politics” by the government, Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore said the party is in a way attacking judiciary as the matter lies with the court. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu hit back at Congress, saying it was posing a “danger to democracy” by making Parliament “dysfunctional”.

He told a press conference that Subramanian Swamy, a BJP leader who is the complainant in the case, was not in the saffron party when he had lodged it.