Indian Parliament disqualifies leading opposition MP

Indian Parliament disqualified Member of Parliament Rahul Ghandhi who is former leader of opposition Congress party and the most visible voice against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a notification on Friday, the Parliament Secretariat said, “Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat, Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102 (1) (e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.” The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat in Gujarat sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a defamation case based on BJP MLA Purnesh Modi’s complaint. The case was against a statement during a 2019 Parliament election event. Gandhi allegedly said, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” If a higher court is not staying the order Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest polls for eight years due to his disqualification. Massive protests by Congress supporters are expected across country. The Congress party hit out at PM Modi and his party BJP for deliberately targeting Rahul Gandhi. “They (BJP) tried all ways to disqualify him. They don’t want to keep those who are speaking the truth but we will continue to speak the truth. We’ll continue to demand JPC, If needed we’ll go to jail to save democracy,” Congress president Mallikajun Kharge said.

Congress General-Secretary Jairam Ramesh also slammed the BJP and asserted that they will face it legally and politically. “We will fight this battle both legally and politically. We will not be intimidated or silenced. Instead of a Joint Parliament Commission into the PM-linked Adani Scam, Rahul Gandhi stands disqualified,” he said.

The Parliament proceedings have deen disrupted for several days as the opposition parties demanded formation of a Joint Parliament Commission to investigate alleged corruption by the leading Indian company Adani which is said to have close connection with the PM.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

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