Congress protests in Nagpur on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP

Rahul Gandhi. File Pic

The Congress protested in Nagpur on the disqualification of its leader Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha MP on Friday.

They shouted slogans against the "dictatorship" of the Union government and burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Medical Square here.

Nagpur District Congress Committee members said more protests will be held later in the evening at Sanvidhan Square here.

Rahul Gandhi, representing Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, was on Friday disqualified from the Lok Sabha a day after his conviction in a defamation case by a court in Surat in Gujarat.

Also Read: Uddhav Thackeray calls Rahul Gandhi's disqualification 'murder' of democracy

Gandhi was on Thursday sentenced to two years in jail in a criminal defamation over his "Modi surname" remarks at a 2019 poll rally in Karnataka.

However, the Surat court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.

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.

The Surat court on Thursday sentenced Rahul 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, Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.

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