Reacting sharply to the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament following his conviction and two-year jail sentence in a defamation case, BRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao condemned the act of the "union government" and termed it as "a dark day in the history of Indian democracy".
The Chief Minister said, "Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Parliament is the height of Narendra Modi's arrogance and dictatorship. It is highly reproachable that the Modi government is not only abusing constitutional institutions but also using the highest democratic platform - the Parliament - for its nefarious activities."
He said that it was an adverse time for democracy and constitutional values, and that the Modi regime had overshadowed even the Emergency.
"Harassment of Opposition leaders has become routine. Modi is bringing the country down by disqualifying Opposition leaders to protect criminals and cheaters," KCR alleged.
The BRS leader also gave a call to the Opposition parties to shed their differences and condemn the BJP's misdeeds in unison, to safeguard the democracy and constitutional values of the country.
"This is not the time for conflicts between parties. All democrats should openly condemn the misdeeds of the BJP government to safeguard our country. We must all unite to resist the BJP's evil policies," KCR said.