Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday claimed that people would not forgive the opposition parties for disrupting Parliament proceedings over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha based on a legislation brought by the Congress-led UPA government.

Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the Kaushambi Mahotsav, he exhorted people to elect Narendra Modi as prime minister once again in 2024 for the all-around welfare of all sections of society.

"The country will not forgive Opposition parties for disrupting Parliament proceedings over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification... Democracy is not in danger, it is casteism and dynastic politics ('parivarwad') which are in danger," Shah said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, and state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhry also attended the event.

In a big blow to the Congress, its leader Rahul Gandhi was on March 24 disqualified from Lok Sabha, nearly 24 hours after a Surat court convicted him in a defamation case, an action the opposition party slammed as BJP’s "vindictive politics" and vowed to fight legally and politically.

The court in Surat sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in a defamation case, filed on a complaint by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his remark, "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" The disqualification will bar 52-year-old Gandhi, a four-time MP, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.