Indian Parliament Disqualifies Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi Over Defamation Conviction

NEW DELHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2023) The lower house of the Indian parliament, Lok Sabha, stripped opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of his lawmaker status on Friday after a lower court found him guilty of defamation.

"Subsequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate ... Rahul Gandhi... stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction," a parliamentary note read.

The 52-year-old head of India's oldest and second largest party, the Indian National Congress, was sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday by a court in the western state of Gujarat for suggesting during a campaign speech in 2019 that thieves tended to have the surname Modi.

The lawsuit was filed by Purnesh Modi, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Gandhi, a member of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty reportedly vying to challenge Narendra Modi in the 2024 general election, was released on bail on Thursday. His sentence has been suspended for 30 days so that he could appeal the conviction in a higher court.