Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday criticized at former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for not apologising despite being found guilty.

Sarma termed the Congress leader’s disqualification from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a court case as an outcome of “karma”.

Sarma said, “Rahul himself tore off the ordinance brought by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2013 that was to ensure immediate disqualification doesn’t happen to elected representatives convicted by a court. If karma has struck him back, what’s our fault in that?”

Gandhi was held guilty by a court for using unparliamentary and defamatory words against an Other Backward Caste (OBC) community. And he was disqualified from parliament as consequence of that verdict, Sarma stated.

There’s no political vendetta as it was a judicial process that the court followed and the disqualification was an outcome of the verdict, he said.

The CM further said that Rahul ought to have apologised after that speech right away. Even with us, occasionally slip of the tongue happens. Yet, in the ensuing 10 to 15 minutes, we release a statement issuing an apology for the remark that was made inadvertently.

However, the matter would have been closed if Gandhi had apologised but the Congress leader didn’t withdraw his comments or sought an apology from the community for more than four years, Sarma added.

The Assam CM said it proved that comments were not unintentional and were made to abuse the OBC community.

“In his election speech in 2019, he abused the OBC community. Consequent to that, cases were filed in various parts of India including one in Arunachal Pradesh as there’s a community called Modi in that state as well. After a prolonged judicial process, he has been held guilty,” said Sarma.

“He behaved arrogantly. The court has to strike a balance between the arrogance of an individual and the pride and prestige of a community. The court decided in favour of the OBC community,” said Sarma.

Notably, Rahul has not apologised and is instead behaving like a fighter jet with the intention of taking on the judiciary, even after the court verdict, Sarma claimed.

The apology was not for Narendra Modi but it was due to the OBC community. The members of the OBC community who are Congress leaders are not happy with the comments,” Sarma added.

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

The court sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remarks at a 2019 poll rally in Karnataka. However, the court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.

Following Rahul’s disqualified, leaders of almost all opposition parties rallied and accused the BJP of doing “vindictive politics.”