Gandhi has been found guilty of defamation by a lower court
Arpan Rai 7 hours ago (independent.co.uk)
India’s parliament has disqualified prominent opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as an MP, a day after he was handed a two-year prison sentence over a 2019 remark made against prime minister Narendra Modi.
A parliament notice issued on Friday said that the Congress Party’s Mr Gandhi stands disqualified from membership of the lower house from the date of his conviction, in compliance with the constitutional requirements.
The 52-year-old politician, who has been a fierce critic of the prime minister, was found guilty of defamation for a remark where he had asked why “all the thieves have the surname Modi”.
“Why all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names?” Mr Gandhi said during a rally in Karnataka state in 2019 during an election campaign.
Mr Gandhi was referring to fugitive business tycoon Nirav Modi and former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi who have been found evading Indian authorities after being involved in multi-billion dollar business scams against the country’s state banks.
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The criminal defamation case was brought against him by another man with the surname Modi – Purnesh Modi, a BJP politician.
This disqualification could serve as a major setback to Mr Gandhi as one of the most high-profile leaders of the opposition in India, which is due to hold a general election next year.
While the Congress leader was granted bail immediately on Thursday and the party have said they will appeal his conviction, Mr Gandhi will now be barred from entering the lower house for the foreseeable future.
Senior Congress politician Jairam Ramesh has said that the party will respond to Mr Gandhi’s disqualification “legally and politically”.
“We will fight this battle both legally and politically. We will not be intimidated or silenced. Instead of a JPC [Joint Parliamentary Committee] into the PM-linked Adani MahaMegaScam, @RahulGandhi stands disqualified. Indian Democracy Om Shanti,” Mr Ramesh said on Twitter on Friday, shortly after the parliament notification was published.
“This is a clear case of the anti-democratic dictatorship attitude of the Bharatiya Janata Party government,” another senior Congress figure KC Venugopal said.
Congress party workers have also called for protests in Delhi and were seen shouting slogans of “Long live Rahul Gandhi” after the leader’s disqualification.
The Congress party led a protest march along with several opposition leaders in central Delhi earlier on Friday, criticising his defamation conviction.
A heavy police security presence was seen on Vijay Chowk outside parliament as opposition leaders demonstrated against Mr Gandhi’s prison sentence.
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A large banner reading “Democracy in danger” was also seen at the protests.
Rahul Gandhi represents the southern Indian district of Wayanad in Kerala. He is the son of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991.
