On Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will deliver a speech in the Lok Sabha on the looming no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Gandhi’s lower house membership was reinstated on Monday after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction in the 2019 ‘Modi surname’ defamation case.
The 53-year-old Wayanad, Kerala, MP is also expected to start the argument from the Congress side.
Gandhi was disqualified as an MP in March after a Gujarat court convicted him in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years in prison – based on a complaint filed in 2019 by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi over his “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remark during an election rally in Karnataka Kolar in 2019.
Notably, a sentence of two years or more automatically disqualifies a legislator under the law.
After receiving news from the Lok Sabha that his MP status had been restored, Rahul Gandhi arrived at Parliament House and paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue before entering the House to attend proceedings around midday. On his entrance in Parliament, the Congress MP was greeted warmly by the Congress and other opposition MPs.
Huge celebrations erupted at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, with party workers dancing and screaming chants in support of Gandhi.
Meanwhile, Gandhi updated his bio on X, formerly known as Twitter to ‘Member of Parliament’ from the previous “Disqualified MP” description. His Twitter bio now lists him as an Indian National Congress member and a Member of Parliament.
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