Rahul Gandhi, the former leader of the Congress party, has been disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha due to his conviction in a criminal defamation case in 2019. The Lok Sabha Secretariat has declared his district vacant, and a special election for the position may be declared by the Election Commission. This disqualification is a severe loss for Rahul Gandhi, who has been questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged relationship with billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the matter. The Congress has termed it a “conspiracy” to silence the MP.
Senior Congressman Manish Tewari responded to the notification by calling the choice incorrect. He stated that the Lok Sabha secretariat cannot remove an MP from office, and the Electoral Commission must be consulted before the President makes a decision. Many congressmen are publicly expressing their worry about him, and Shashi Tharoor, another prominent Congressman, stated that it is bad news for democracy. Within 24 hours of the court’s ruling and while it was known that an appeal was being considered, he commented that he was astounded by this action and by how quickly it came about. He said that this was “politics without gloves” and that it was bad for democracy.
According to Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the Congress, his party is looking for answers about who stole the money from the public, while the BJP is attempting to divert attention from the real problem. This morning, Congress units protested simultaneously throughout multiple states, accusing the Center of having a personal grudge. DK Shivakumar, the state president of the Congress, as well as other party officials and supporters were held by Karnataka police as they were protesting the Surat court’s decision to convict Mr. Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi was yesterday given a two-year prison sentence in the case brought by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his claimed comment, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” In order to give him time to file an appeal with a higher court, the judge also granted him bail and deferred the punishment for 30 days. Furthermore, now Rahul Gandhi can appeal the ruling in court. Congress leaders have questioned the move’s legitimacy, arguing that only the President has the authority to dismiss MPs after consulting the Election Commission.
