Rahul Gandhi disqualified from Lok Sabha; Several Congress leaders detained amid protests

IT News/Agency
New Delhi, Mar 24:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from the membership by the Lok Sabha Secretariat today. An order by Utpal Kumar Singh, Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification stated that – consequent upon his (Rahul Gandhi) conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat in C.C./18712/2019, Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e., 23 March, 2023 in terms of provisions of Article 102(1)€ of the Constitution of India read with section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Following this, the Congress party continued its pan India agitation today against the conviction of senior party leader Rahul Gandhi by a court in Gujarat’s Surat, in a criminal defamation case. The party also plans to meet President Droupadi Murmu with other parties over the issue. Congress raised the issue in Parliament, leading to a ruckus in both Houses.
Meanwhile, BJP claimed that Rahul Gandhi has a habit of levelling fabricated allegations having no connection with facts while alleging the Congress leader has a “huge arrogance but little understanding”. In a series of tweets amid a political fight between the saffron party and the Congress following Gandhi’s conviction, BJP president J P Nadda Friday alleged that “lies, personal slander and negative politics is integral” to his politics.
People’s “punishment” to him will be more severe in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls than in 2019 when he lost in Amethi and the Congress was routed nationally, the BJP leader said.
India’s biggest Opposition party, Congress, announced the mass agitation immediately after the conviction of Gandhi in a defamation case and said it will not just fight the case legally but also politically.
Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, has also called a meeting of the opposition parties on Friday, following which the MPs will march to the Vijay Chowk.
In the evening today, all the state Congress Presidents and legislative party leaders have been called for a meeting to chalk out plans for nationwide protests.
The Congress leadership has, reportedly, also sought time to meet President Droupadi Murmu in the afternoon today to raise the matter with her.
AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, a meeting at Kharge’s residence was held on Thursday for around two hours, where it was decided that the Party chief would hold a meeting with all Pradesh Congress chiefs and Congress Legislature Party leaders in the evening and plan agitations in states as well.
“We will hold protests across Delhi and in other states on Monday on this issue,” Ramesh said.
The matter is just not a legal issue, but also a serious political issue linked with the future of democracy in the country, he said.
“This is another major example of the Modi government’s politics of vendetta, threat and intimidation. We will fight it legally as well as politically. We will not bow down or be intimidated by such politics and will turn this into a major political issue,” Ramesh said.