Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after he was convicted by a Surat court in a criminal defamation case.
Top Indian opposition figure Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from parliament as a result of his conviction for defamation, a notice from the national legislature said. "Rahul Gandhi... stands disqualified from the member of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction," the notice said.
The decision by the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's legislature, comes a day after Gandhi was found guilty of defamation for a 2019 campaign trail remark implying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a criminal.
Modi's government has been widely accused of using the law to target and silence critics, and the case in the premier's home state of Gujarat is one of several lodged against his chief opponent in recent years.
Gandhi, the leading face of the opposition Congress party, was sentenced to two years imprisonment but immediately granted bail after his lawyers announced their intention to appeal.
Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh confirmed to AFP that his party had received the notice.
Meanwhile, Congress continued its pan-India agitation today against the conviction of Rahul Gandhi. The party was planning to meet President Droupadi Murmu with other parties over the issue. Congress raised the issue in Parliament, leading to a ruckus in both Houses.
Meanwhile, BJP claimed that Rahul Gandhi has a habit of levelling fabricated allegations having no connection with facts while alleging the Congress leader has a “huge arrogance but little understanding”.
In a series of tweets amid a political fight between the saffron party and the Congress following Gandhi’s conviction, BJP president JP Nadda alleged that “lies, personal slander and negative politics is integral” to his politics.
People’s “punishment” to him will be more severe in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls than in 2019 when he lost in Amethi and the Congress was routed nationally, the BJP leader said.
India’s biggest Opposition party, Congress, announced the mass agitation immediately after the conviction of Gandhi in a defamation case and said it will not just fight the case legally but also politically.
Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has also called a meeting of the opposition parties on Friday, following which the MPs will march to the Vijay Chowk.
In the evening today, all the state Congress Presidents and legislative party leaders have been called for a meeting to chalk out plans for nationwide protests.
The Congress leadership has, reportedly, also sought time to meet President Droupadi Murmu in the afternoon today to raise the matter with her.
AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, a meeting at Kharge’s residence was held on Thursday for around two hours, where it was decided that the Party chief would hold a meeting with all Pradesh Congress chiefs and Congress Legislature Party leaders in the evening and plan agitations in states as well.
“We will hold protests across Delhi and in other states on Monday on this issue,” Ramesh said.
The matter is just not a legal issue, but also a serious political issue linked with the future of democracy in the country, he said.
“This is another major example of the Modi government’s politics of vendetta, threat and intimidation. We will fight it legally as well as politically. We will not bow down or be intimidated by such politics and will turn this into a major political issue,” Ramesh said.
On Thursday morning, Rahul Gandhi was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname. The Congress leader, however, was granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days to allow him to appeal the Surat court verdict.
The case was filed against Rahul Gandhi by BJP MLA and ex-Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for saying “how come all thieves have the common surname Modi” while campaigning in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “This government is clearly relying on one set of tactics to throttle opposition voices inside the Parliament, and a second set of tactics outside it. So if you say something outside the Parliament, they wouldn’t allow the House to run.”