Disqualified MP Rahul vows to fight for 'voice of India

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: In a big blow to the Congress, its leader Rahul Gandhi was on Friday 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 BJP dismissed the charges and termed the disqualification "lawful".

Announcing his disqualification, the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification said following his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat, Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of the House from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March 2023.

The disqualification will bar 52-year-old Gandhi, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction. The court in Surat sentenced on Thursday 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?"

A lawmaker can escape a disqualification under the Representation of the People (RP) Act if the jail term, which should be two years or above, and the conviction both are stayed by the appellate court. Gandhi will have to move an appellate court for relief and subsequently to the Lok Sabha Secretariat to seek restoration of his status as an MP after getting a favourable judicial order. In his first reaction Rahul in a tweet said,"I am fighting for the voice of India.''