Rahul Gandhi disqualified as LS member after conviction

Rahul Gandhi was stripped of his membership of the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a Surat court convicted him in a defamation case.

The Opposition, including some parties that do not usually support the Congress, unanimously condemned the move, calling it an attack on democracy. In some parts of the country, workers of the Congress and the BJP clashed on the streets, as Rahul Gandhi said: “I am fighting for the voice of India. I am ready to pay any price.” After a meeting of senior leaders late in the evening, the Congress announced a nationwide agitation against Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, alleging that the government had acted with lightning speed to “gag” him.

Earlier, the Speaker’s office said in a notification: “Consequent upon his conviction by the court of chief judicial magistrate, Surat...Rahul Gandhi, member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad constituency, stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. March 23, 2023.”