Rahul Gandhi disqualified as Lok Sabha MP day after his conviction in Surat

Congress leader and prominent opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as the Lok Sabha MP, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said in a statement. This happened a day after being convicted by a Surat Court and given a two-year prison sentence in a defamation case involving a statement he made about the Modi surname in 2019.

After this decision, the proceedings in Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 3:30 pm as BJP members demand apology from Rahul Gandhi over remarks that he made about India’s democracy in a seminar in London. In the order, Rahul Gandhi was declared ineligible to serve in the Lok Sabha by the Lok Sabha in its decision disqualifying him, effective as of the date of his conviction, or March 23, 2023.

Earlier, the opposition Congress party had decided to take to the streets to protest the conviction and were supposed to meet President Droupadi Murmu along with other parties over the decision. 

Following the court verdict, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had convened a meeting of senior party leaders and MPs at his residence where it was decided that a protest would be staged at Vijay Chowk on Friday. Moreover, the party had also announced a mass agitation on Thursday and said it will not just fight the case legally but also politically. 

Kharge has said the party will hold a meeting with all state unit chiefs and Congress Legislature Party leaders and plan agitations in states over the court verdict.

“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,” Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh had told the media.