Rahul Gandhi disqualified: Bhupesh Baghel hits out at Centre with 'dictator' jibe

Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel attacked the Narendra Modi-led Union government over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha MP on Friday and claimed a "dictator" was trying to scare someone who is telling the whole nation "don't be afraid".

He also said such measures were taken against then prime minister Indira Gandhi but she returned triumphant, an apparent reference to two years of Janata Party rule after Emergency and her sweeping victory in the 1980 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul Gandhi, representing Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, was on Friday disqualified from the Lok Sabha a day after his conviction in a defamation case by a court in Surat in Gujarat.

"The greatest fear of a dictator is that people will stop fearing him (one day). You want to scare the one who is telling the whole nation “ don't be afraid”. Some people did the same mistake with Indira ji and the rest is history. Will meet here in the people's court. There will be people and mass leaders. The only thing which will not be there is fear and dictators," Baghel tweeted.

Rahul Gandhi was on Thursday sentenced to two years in jail in a criminal defamation over his "Modi surname" remarks at a 2019 poll rally in Karnataka.

However, the Surat court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.