New Delhi: In a big blow to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, he has lost his membership from the Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as Member of Lok Sabha comes after his conviction and sentencing in a defamation case by the Surat court.
Breaking- @RahulGandhi disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha. @the_hindu pic.twitter.com/rTJ5ixxlJt
— Nistula Hebbar (@nistula) March 24, 2023
A notification by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said that Rahul’s membership from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency stands disqualified from March 23.
Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament comes as per provisions of Representative of People’s Act 1951 and Supreme Court’s 2013 judgement which says that any lawmaker convicted for two or more years will lose his/her Membership from the House.
What Rahul’s disqualification means
Rahul’s disqualification as Lok Sabha MP comes as a big setback for the Congress party as well as Opposition.
This means that Rahul is no longer a Member of Parliament and hence can’t represent his party in the House.
Rahul’s disqualification also leaves his party rudderless & headless as he has been the face of party from agitations to Bharat Jodo Yatra to taking on the Centre.
Will Rahul face 6 year ban on contesting polls?
As per Supreme Court’s landmark judgement in 2013, any convicted lawmaker would be debarred from contesting elections for next 6 years, the same law would apply to Gandhi.
Though, there is no official information or confirmation about Rahul’s losing right to contest elections, political watchers say that this is very much a possibility.
If Rahul is barred from contesting elections for 6 years, Congress party would be really staring at a bleak future as Sonia Gandhi has already announced retirement and the tallest leader of grand old party is bound by law to ‘sit idle’ till he is cleared of grvae charges.
