New Delhi, Mar 26: Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday apologized for his 'tapasya' tweet after not getting a Rajya Sabha nomination from his party last year, saying he did so in "selfishness" but has realized his mistake drawing inspiration from Rahul Gandhi who "shuns power" and continues his 'tapasya'.

Addressing a gathering at the day-long 'Sankalp Satyagraha' of the Congress at the Rajghat to protest Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha, Khera said, "If you try to murder democracy, Rahul Gandhi will speak, be it from inside Parliament or outside it."

"You (BJP) are afraid when Rahul Gandhi takes the name of Adani, you will shiver when he will do so on the streets," he said.

Rahul Gandhi belongs to the family that showed the country the way, Khera said.

Referring to his tweet on May 29 last year after his name did not figure in a list of party's Rajya Sabha nominees, Khera said, "I want to apologize to all of you, to my leadership that in selfishness, when I did not get a Rajya Sabha berth, I wrote that 'shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi'. Now I see Rahul Gandhi that he shuns power and still continues his tapasya, what could be bigger than that."

"I apologize to all of you today. I have got inspiration from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. It is time to fight, to raise one's voice, power comes or doesn't, we will fight and win," Khera told the gathering with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders on the dais.

Khera was at the centre of a deplaning row recently when he was arrested after being deplaned from an aircraft and arrested for remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gandhi was on Thursday sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "why all thieves have Modi surname" remark. He was subsequently disqualified from Lok Sabha.

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Jaipur (PTI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's century went in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets in their IPL match here on Saturday.

Sooryavanshi hammered his second hundred in the IPL — a 37-ball 103 — as Rajasthan Royals put on board a strong 228 for six after they were put in to bat first.

Sooryavanshi got plenty of support from Dhruv Jurel, who made a 35-ball 51 and, helped the teenager milk 112 runs for the second wicket. In the death overs, Donovan Ferreira (33) played some big shots as RR went past the 200-run mark.

But, SRH chased down the target of 229 with nine balls to spare, with Ishan Kishan top-scoring with a 74 off 31 balls. Abhishek Sharma chipped in with 57 off 29 deliveries as SRH reached 229 for 5 in 18.3 overs.

Brief Scores:

Rajasthan Royals: 228/6 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 103, Dhruv Jurel 51; Pat Cummins 1/27, Eshan Malinga 2/38).

Sunrisers Hydearabad: 229 for 5 in 18.3 overs (Ishan Kishan 74, Abhishek Sharma 57; Jofra Archer 2/34, Brijesh Sharma 2/44).