- Title: India's Congress leader Rahul Gandhi disqualified from parliament
- Date: 24th March 2023
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (MARCH 24, 2023) (ANI - No use India) (SD) RAHUL GANDHI TALKING TO KHARGE AS THEY WALK ALONG WITH SONIA GANDHI/GANDHI LOOKING ON NEW DELHI, INDIA (MARCH 24, 2023) (ANI - No use India) (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) PRESIDENT, INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, MALLIKARJUN KHARGE, SAYING: "They (BJP) have made all the efforts to disqualify Rahul (Gandhi) (from the Indian parli
- Embargoed: 7th April 2023 11:39
- Keywords: BJP Congress protest India Narendra Modi New Delhi Rahul Gandhi bail conviction court defamation disqualified
- Location: NEW DELHI/PATNA, BIHAR/ BENGALURU, KARNATAKA, INDIA
- City: NEW DELHI/PATNA, BIHAR/ BENGALURU, KARNATAKA, INDIA
- Country: India
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003I3I69N3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART QUALITY AS INCOMING
India's opposition Congress party suffered a major blow on Friday (March 24) when parliament disqualified its leader Rahul Gandhi, a day after a court convicted him for comments that many Indians deemed insulting to the prime minister.
Gandhi "stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction," parliament said in a notice, referring to the lower house of parliament.
Gandhi, 52, was convicted by a court and sentenced to prison for two years in the western state of Gujarat on Thursday after he was found guilty of defamation in connection with a 2019 speech in which he referred to thieves as having the surname Modi.
He made the comment while campaigning ahead of the last general election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept back to power.
The court case was filed by a member of Modi's ruling party called Purnesh Modi, who focused on a comment Gandhi made in the 2019 speech when he was referring to two fugitive businessmen, both surnamed Modi.
"How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?" Gandhi asked.
The court granted Gandhi bail and suspended the sentence for a month. But under the constitution, a lawmaker convicted by a court stands disqualified from the parliament.
Gandhi, the scion of a dynasty that has given India three prime ministers marched across India this year to revive the political fortunes of the Congress.
Some of Gandhi's allies said the court ruling was politically motivated.
"They (BJP) have made all the efforts to disqualify Rahul (Gandhi) (from the Indian parliament). He has been disqualified from the House in order to close his mouth from speaking the truth…as per the rules of democracy, from protecting the Constitution, from fighting for the rights of the people," said Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge.
Gandhi was at the official residence of his mother, Sonia Gandhi, who is the longest serving president of the Congress party at the time the parliament notice became public, said two Congress lawmakers.
Earlier in the day, Congress party members held protests in different parts of the country against Gandhi's conviction.
The once-dominant Congress controls less than 10% of the elected seats in parliament's lower house and has been decimated by the BJP in two successive general elections, most recently in 2019 under Gandhi's leadership.
Senior BJP leader and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said insulting a lower community and not asking for an apology was not freedom of speech.
India next general election is due by mid-2024. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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