NEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s parliament has disqualified senior opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, a day after he was sentenced to two years in prison in a defamation case. A parliament notice Friday said that Mr Gandhi \u201cstands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha\u201d, alluding to the lower house of parliament, BBC reported.
\nHe was convicted by the court for 2019 comments about PM Narendra Modi\u2019s surname at an election rally. Mr Gandhi was a Congress party MP from Wayanad in the state of Kerala. He remains on bail for 30 days and has said he will appeal the verdict given by a court in Gujarat state.
\nMr Gandhi\u2019s party had termed the verdict \u201cerroneous and unsustainable\u201d and pledged to fight the disqualification \u201cboth legally and politically\u201d. On Friday, the Congress led opposition leaders in a protest march in the capital Delhi.
\nVisuals showed heavy security in the Vijay Chowk area outside the parliament as the opposition leaders stepped out carrying a large banner that read \u201cdemocracy in danger\u201d. TV channels reported that a few lawmakers were detained as security personnel stopped them from leaving the area.
\nThe protesting MPs had planned to march to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of President Droupadi Murmu. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the action against Mr Gandhi was a consequence of his demand for investigation by a joint parliamentary committee to probe allegations against the Adani Group.
\nThe conglomerate was accused of decades of \u201cbrazen\u201d stock manipulation and accounting fraud by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research earlier this year. The Adani Group has denied allegations of financial fraud.
\nCongress party president Mallikarjun Kharge (C) along with members of parliamentof various opposition parties take part in a protest marchImage source, Getty Images Image caption, \u201cThey don\u2019t want to keep those who are speaking the truth,\u201d Mr Kharge said. \u201cBut we will continue to speak the truth.\u201d
\nThe Congress says it plans more protests against the government in the coming days. A 2013 Supreme Court order says that a lawmaker convicted in a crime and sentenced to two or more years in jail stand disqualified from the parliament with immediate effect.
\nMr Gandhi will not be allowed to contest elections until his sentence is suspended or he is acquitted in the case. National elections are due in India next year. Jairam Ramesh, a Congress party leader, called the Gujarat court verdict a \u201cvery serious political issue\u201d that could affect \u201cthe future of our democracy\u201d.
\n\u201cThis is a great example of Modi government\u2019s politics of vengeance, politics of threats, politics of intimidation and politics of harassment,\u201d he said after a party meeting on Thursday. Ministers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, criticised Mr Gandhi and his party for questioning the verdict.
\nFederal labour minister Bhupender Yadav said Mr Gandhi had insulted members of the caste grouping known as Other Backward Classes (OBC) under which the name \u201cModi\u201d falls. \u201cInsulting any surname is not freedom of speech,\u201d he said.
\nBut India\u2019s former law minister Kapil Sibal, who quit the Congress party last year, called the court\u2019s decision \u201cbizarre\u201d. He also said Mr Gandhi\u2019s comments were directed at \u201can individual\u201d and not a community. In his reaction to the verdict, Mr Gandhi tweeted a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, \u201cMy religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India\u2019s parliament has disqualified senior opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, a day after he was sentenced to two years in prison in a defamation case. A parliament notice Friday said that Mr Gandhi \u201cstands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha\u201d, alluding to the lower house of parliament, BBC reported. He was convicted by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-321538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n