Intl desk, Mar 24: 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 on Friday.
‘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 that his party had received the notice.
National elections are due in India next year.
The Congress party has said Mr Gandhi is being targeted for exposing the government’s “dark deeds”.
Senior party leader Jairam Ramesh called the verdict a “very serious political issue” that could affect “the future of our democracy”.
Ministers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, criticised Mr Gandhi and his party for questioning the verdict.
Federal labour minister Bhupender Yadav said Mr Gandhi had insulted members of the caste grouping known as Other Backward Classes (OBC) under which the name “Modi” falls.
“Insulting any surname is not freedom of speech,” he said.
But India’s former law minister Kapil Sibal, who quit the Congress party last year, called the court’s decision “bizarre”.
He also said Mr Gandhi’s comments were directed at “an individual” and not a community.
Several opposition parties have came out in support of Mr Gandhi. Leaders of the parties, along with Congress, plan to meet with President Droupadi Murmu at her official residence to discuss the matter.
On Friday, Congress was also among 14 parties who approached the Supreme Court, alleging that the federal government was misusing investigating agencies to target BJP’s opponents.
Source: News Agencies
