Rahul Gandhi disqualified from Lok Sabha - What's the next step for Congress?
1 min read 24 Mar 2023, 03:11 PM ISTCongress leaders are gearing up to file an appeal against the Surat court's verdict. Party leaders have also called for a strategy meeting on Friday evening and led protests against the verdict in various parts of the country.
PremiumWayanad MP Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the lower house of Parliament on Friday. The development came less than a day after the senior Congress leader was handed a two year jail term in a 2019 criminal defamation case. Party leaders insist that they will fight the battle both "legally and politically".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party had called a meeting of senior leaders at 5 pm. Discussions would be held on the party's strategy going forward.
“They tried all ways to disqualify him. They don't want to keep those who are speaking the truth but we will continue to speak the truth. We'll continue to demand JPC, If needed we'll go to jail to save democracy," he added.
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Following his disqualification, Gandhi's Wayanad seat has been declared vacant. The Election Commission can now announce special elections for the seat - a contest that Gandhi will not be eligible to join. The Congress leader can also be asked to vacate his government bungalow in central Delhi
Since the conviction was announced on Thursday afternoon, Leaders of the Congress party have repeatedly said that they were gearing up to file an appeal in a higher court. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi had previously said that the 170-page judgment was still subject to translation.
Party members have also led protests in some parts of the country against Gandhi's conviction and two-year-old jail sentence.
"We believe that this is full of errors and legally unsustainable in conclusion. But make no mistake generally...all your (government's) efforts to create a chilling effect, a throttling effect, strangulating effect on open, fearless speech relating to public interest will not stop either Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party," Singhvi told reporters after the verdict.
(With inputs from agencies)
