GUWAHATI/ NEW DELHI, March 24 (PTI): Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was on Friday disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case, an action the party termed an attempt to “silence” his voice as it vowed to fight the battle legally and politically.
Following Rahul’s disqualification from Lok Sabha, opposition parties in Assam on Friday slammed the ruling BJP and alleged the saffron brigade has “finished the democracy”.
The Congress, the principal opposition party in Assam, asserted that Gandhi has been consistently fighting for people’s rights and to protect Indian democracy, both within and outside the Parliament.
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“He will continue to do so. Truth shall, must and will prevail. Appropriate legal action will be taken,” the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) tweeted.
APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah claimed that the conviction and subsequent disqualification from Parliament is the outcome of speaking for the people of the country.
“BJP has finished our democracy. BJP’s conspiracy to silence @RahulGandhi,” he said on the micro-blogging site.
Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi termed the disqualification of the Congress MP from the Lok Sabha following the judgement in the ‘Modi Surname Case’ an aberration for democracy.
“Defamation suit becomes a tool for political vendetta. It’s the start of the ruin of the ‘Modi Regime’. A repetition of the Emergency era 1975-77,” he said.
President of another opposition party, Assam Jatiya Parishad, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, said Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament shows the BJP-led government’s desperation and lays bare its attempt to muzzle opposition voices.
Criticising the action on the former Congress president, Assam Trinamool Congress leader Dilip Kumar Sarma said the success of India’s democracy depends on the independence of executive, legislature and judiciary.
“When everything runs on the instructions of the executive, then the destruction of democracy starts. The Lok Sabha secretariat has done such an act today. Lok Sabha, which works to uphold democracy, today in a way killed democracy,” he added.
The disqualification, which will bar 52-year-old Gandhi from contesting polls for eight years unless stayed by a higher court, saw a shift in the dynamics of opposition ranks with Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party also expressing strong support for the embattled leader, along with several other opposition parties.
Announcing his disqualification, the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification said that it was effective from March 23, the day of his conviction.
“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,” the notification read.
This was Gandhi’s fourth Lok Sabha term. First elected to Lok Sabha in 2004 from Amethi, he represented that constituency for two more terms. In 2019, he lost the Amethi seat to Smriti Irani but managed to win from Wayanad.
The court in Surat sentenced on Thursday Gandhi to two years in jail in a defamation case, filed on a complaint by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for his alleged remark, “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
Following his disqualification, Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.
Hours before the notification was issued, Gandhi attended Lok Sabha proceedings in the morning session. Before the proceedings commenced, he also participated in a meeting of party MPs in the Parliament complex.
Incidentally, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, in 2013, had attempted to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling to set aside an RP Act provision under which a person sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more shall be disqualified “from the date of such conviction” and remain disqualified for another six years after serving time.
Gandhi himself had opposed the ordinance at that time and tore the ordinance in a press conference as a token of protest.
Reacting to Gandhi’s disqualification, the Congress said it was “a black day for Indian democracy” and asserted that the battle will be fought both “legally and politically”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP made all efforts to get him disqualified as he was speaking the truth.
“He has been removed from the House for speaking the truth, fighting for the Constitution and for people’s rights,” Kharge alleged.
“This was not a question of backward class, Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi are not of backward class. They are trying to build a perception that Rahul Gandhi spoke against the backward class. Gandhi was putting forward the truth before the country so they were not liking it,” he said in an apparent reference to BJP chief J P Nadda’s remarks that Gandhi had compared OBC communities to thieves.
The BJP would be thinking that their problem is solved by ousting him from Lok Sabha but it is not so as the demand for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) would continue to be raised, he said. Opposition leaders have been demanding a JPC probe into the Adani issue.
“We will keep fighting to protect democracy and even if we have to go to jail, we will do so. Our people are ready to fight,” Kharge said.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet, “We will fight this battle both legally and politically. We will not be intimidated or silenced. Instead of a JPC into the PM-linked Adani Maha Mega Scam, Rahul Gandhi stands disqualified. Indian Democracy Om Shanti.”
Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal also lashed out at the government and said the day Gandhi raised questions about the Adani issue against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP planned a “conspiracy” to silence the voice of Gandhi.
“This is a clear case of anti-democratic, dictatorial attitude of the BJP government,” Venugopal said in a video statement.
In a tweet later, he said, “Rahul Gandhi ji’s disqualification is the final nail in the coffin. This is a black day for Indian democracy. It is a well-orchestrated move of the Modi government to silence his voice in Parliament. We will fight this legally and politically on every front, the truth will prevail.”
Defending Gandhi’s disqualification, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice S P S Baghel termed it as “lawful” and asserted that “everyone is equal before law”. He also noted that a BJP MLA was also recently disqualified in Uttar Pradesh following his conviction in a criminal case.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said the decision was a legal one and alleged the Congress was questioning the judiciary.
“It was a legal decision and not a call taken by the political party. It was taken by a court. The Congress should clarify who they are protesting against,” he said.
Senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav said Gandhi had got enough opportunities to explain himself, provide evidence and all rules have been followed leading to his disqualification.
The disqualification also saw many opposition parties rallying in support of Gandhi with Trinamool Congress, AAP, the Left parties, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), and NCP, among others, backing the former Congress chief.
West Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in a tweet highlighted how the BJP is targetting leaders of the opposition.
“In PM Modi’s New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy,” she said in a tweet.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, Priyanka Chaturvedi questioned the state of democracy in the country. “Vindictive and shameful action against Rahul Gandhi. This disqualification yet again proves that we are living in the times of caged democracy,” she said in a tweet.
