New Delhi, 24 March 2023 (The Times of India)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as a Lok Sabha member following his conviction in the criminal defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark.
The announcement of disqualification of the Wayanad MP comes a day after a court in Surat sentenced him to two years in the case filed against him over his remarks. It is effective from the date of conviction (March 23).
For now, the court has also granted bail to the Congress leader and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court. The Congress leader now has two uphill battles before him: to get his conviction quashed in the higher court and also save his electoral future.
The immediate challenge before Rahul is to convince a higher court to quash his conviction in the criminal defamation case.
Usually, the disqualification of an MP can be reversed if a higher court grants a stay on the conviction or decides the appeal in favour of the convicted lawmaker.
However, even if the conviction is not quashed but the sentence is reduced to less than 2 years, Rahul will manage to get his disqualification reversed.
Hours after his disqualification from Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said that he is fighting for the people of the country and is ready to pay any price for that. Meanwhile, BJP's Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Nehru-Gandhi family suffers from sense of entitlement and feudal mindset, it should know law equal for everyone.
Rahul Gandhi is grandson of slained former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi and son of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
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