Wayanad Lok Sabha seat declared vacant after Rahul Gandhi's disqualification

The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala was declared vacant on Friday after its MP Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament after he was sentenced to a two-year jail term in a criminal defamation case.

The Lok Sabha secretariat issued a notification disqualifying Gandhi as a member of the Lower House of Parliament following his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case.

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The Lok Sabha website now shows three vacant seats – Jalandhar, Lakshadweep and Wayanad.

The Jalandhar seat fell vacant after the demise of Congress member Santokh Singh Chaudhary.

The Lakshadweep seat fell vacant after the disqualification of NCP member Mohammad Faizal P P after his conviction in an attempt to murder case in which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Gandhi represented the Amethi parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019. BJP leader Smriti Irani defeated Gandhi in Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad, the second seat he had contested.