My name is not Savarkar, Gandhi doesn't offer apology to anyone: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Mar 25: "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday responding to a query on repeated calls by the BJP seeking his apology over various issues.
The former Congress chief made the remarks while addressing a press conference after being disqualified from Lok Sabha.
Asked what he thinks about calls from the BJP seeking his apology for allegedly seeking foreign intervention and whether he could have regretted his remarks in court for which he has been convicted for defamation, he said, "Rahul Gandhi thinks my name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi, Gandhi does not offer apology to anyone."
Gandhi has often targeted late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, saying that he helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear.
At the presser, he said that he had made appeals that he be allowed to speak in Parliament but was not given permission.
"Wrote to the Speaker twice, then went to him personally and said 'you are the protector of democracy, allow me to speak', he smiles and says 'I can't do it'. If you cannot do it, who can do it, I may have to go to Modi ji then but he will not allow me to speak," Gandhi said.
"So, my point is that, democracy is finished in this country, people cannot speak what is on their minds, institutions in this country are being attacked and the mechanism of that attack is the relationship between Narendra Modi and Adani," the Congress leader said.
In his remarks at the presser, Gandhi said he will keep asking questions on the Adani issue.
"Ministers lied about me that I called for foreign intervention (abroad), I did not do so," Gandhi said.
Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case.
The disqualification from Lok Sabha will bar Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
