The National Herald case has revived the acrimony with both
the Congress and the BJP attacking each other again. Her birthday gift
was delivered earlier today in the form of support in both houses of Parliament
from her party's lawmakers on the Congress' protest against the government over
the National Herald case, in which Mrs Gandhi and her son Rahul have to appear
in court. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee dropped in at 10
Janpath to wish Congress president Sonia Gandhi a happy birthday this evening.
The Trinamool Congress MPs were not allowed by the Speaker to speak on the
issue and they walked out of the Lok Sabha after the microphones were turned
off. In the Rajya Sabha, party lawmaker Derek O'Brien repeated the Congress's
'political vendetta charge.'Other opposition parties, with the exception
of the Samajwadi Party and the YSR Congress, too have said they support the
Congress position and more leaders are expected to call on Mrs Gandhi on her
69th birthday today and show solidarity. Among them, Bihar chief
minister Nitish Kumar, who is on his first visit to Delhi after his mega win in
assembly elections held in his state last month. Mr Kumar's
Janata Dal United
partnered with the Congress, which now participates in his state government.The
Gandhis face allegations of illegally acquiring property worth crores belonging
to the National Herald newspaper, in a case filed by BJP leader Subramanian
Swamy.A furious Congress has disrupted Parliament proceedings since
yesterday when their two top leaders were asked to appear in court, accusing
the government of attempting to "intimidate" and "oppress"
the opposition.Rahul Gandhi today described the case as "One
hundred per cent political vendetta."The BJP-led government has
urged the Congress not to disrupt Parliament, emphasising that it has nothing
to do with the court order. This morning Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted
good wishes to Mrs Gandhi and senior minister Venkiaiah Naidu called to
wish her. "Pure political vendetta coming out of the PM's office...
It is their way of doing politics... I have full faith in judiciary. We will
see at the end what comes out. Truth will come out," Mr Gandhi said
outside Parliament this afternoon.After one and a half years of
acrimony, the government and the Congress had slowly begun building a working
relationship last month around the Goods and Services Tax bill. PM Modi had
invited Mrs Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a discussion
over tea with some of his senior colleagues.
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