The Congress is staging a “drama” and is making an attempt to exert “pressure on the judiciary”, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged on Monday, as members of the Grand Old Party accompanied celebration chief Rahul Gandhi to a Surat court docket to file an attraction towards his conviction in a 2019 defamation case.

The Congress, nonetheless, dismissed the cost as “absurd” and asserted that one who attends the court docket isn’t a supply of strain.

Gandhi, who was convicted and sentenced to 2 years in jail by a Surat court docket in a 2019 defamation case on March 23, was accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and prime leaders to Surat.

Among those that accompanied Gandhi had been Congress basic secretary KC Venugopal, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart, Bhupesh Baghel and former Union minister Ajay Maken.

Due to his conviction, Gandhi was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad on March 24.

Speaking to reporters outdoors Parliament, Union minister Kiren Rijiju mentioned: “My point is very simple – why is the Congress party trying to put this kind of undue pressure on the judiciary? There are means and ways to deal with judicial matters. But is this the way?”

He added: “They (Congress) are doing a drama to threaten the judiciary. I condemn it. The Congress party considers a family above the country.”

Earlier within the day, Rijiju hit out at Gandhi for his “childish attempt to bring pressure on the appellate court”.

“Rahul Gandhi might be going to Surat to file an appeal. It is not required of a convict to go personally to file an appeal. Generally, no convict goes personally. His going personally with a motley group of leaders and aides accompanying him is only a drama,” he mentioned in a sequence of tweets.

“What Rahul Gandhi is doing is also a childish attempt to bring pressure on the appellate court. All courts in the country are immune from such tactics,” he added.

Union minister Anurag Thakur additionally hit out on the Congress and sought to know if “one family is bigger than the country”.

“India won’t tolerate the insult of backwards (Other Backward Classes). Earlier, PV Narasimha Rao, P Chidambaram, D K Shivakumar went to jail too, how many Congress people went with them? Is one family bigger than the country?” he mentioned.

BJP nationwide spokesperson Sambit Patra mentioned that after “insulting the OBC community by his casteist comments at a public rally in Surat in 2019, Rahul is going there to add salt to fire”.

“You are exerting pressure on the judiciary, you were given a chance to apologise for your cuss words against the OBC community members. But instead, you are going to augment the kind of words used against OBCs. Rahul Gandhi was given a chance by the local court to seek forgiveness, you (Rahul) said you won’t. Why such arrogance,” he advised a press convention within the nationwide capital.

“The way your people attack the judiciary, why such hatred for Indian democracy? Now you go out to insult Indian democracy. Look at the audacity,” he added.

Continuing his assault on Gandhi, Patra mentioned: “Rahul Gandhi, his family members, chief ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel are going to Surat and will be creating mayhem in the name of appealing (against the two-year sentence) verdict. What’s the need for this ruckus?” he mentioned.

The Congress dismissed the BJP’s allegations as “absurd”.

“That is an absurd allegation. First of all, who attends the court is not a source of pressure,” senior chief and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor mentioned.

“If at all there is a source of pressure on the judiciary, I think we can all guess where that is likely to come from,” he added.

Tharoor additionally mentioned that Gandhi is the principal political chief of a significant opposition celebration, so it’s applicable to place up a present of power however finally, the soundness of the arguments of attorneys contained in the courtroom is what prevails.

“Who comes to the court is not going to decide a case, it is what is argued in the court that is going to decide and that is essentially for us the principal reason why it has taken a week for the lawyers to prepare a very robust and sound defence,” he mentioned.