Indian court denies opposition leader\u2019s plea seeking stay leaving his political future uncertain
\n AHMEDABAD
\nA court in India\u2019s western state of Gujarat on Thursday rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi\u2019s petition seeking a stay of conviction in a defamation case, fuelling uncertainty over whether he will be able to contest an election due next year.
\nGandhi was convicted last month in a case brought by a state lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after comments he made that were deemed to be insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other people surnamed Modi.
\n\u201cThe Surat district court has not granted a stay on Rahul Gandhi\u2019s conviction,\u201d Naishadh Desai, a local Congress leader and lawyer, told reporters outside the court room.
\n\u201cWe are going to challenge the decision in Gujarat High Court tomorrow. We have full faith that the judiciary will uphold justice and save the democracy,\u201d he said.
\nWhile Thursday\u2019s ruling was a setback for Gandhi, his jail sentence remained suspended until he exhausts all legal challenges.
\nGandhi, 52, lost his parliamentary seat in March after being convicted and sentenced to two years in jail for comments made during an election campaign rally in 2019. In India, lawmakers sentenced to jail terms of two years or more are barred from running for election.
\nSenior Congress leader and Supreme Court lawyer Jairam Ramesh said the party would use every legal option to overturn Gandhi\u2019s conviction.
\nDuring a political rally in 2019, Gandhi had referred to two fugitive businessmen, both surnamed Modi and asked: \u201cHow come all thieves have the name Modi?\u201d
\nThe defamation case against Gandhi was brought by Purnesh Modi, a BJP legislator in the Gujarat state assembly.
\nThe BJP has repeatedly targeted the Gandhi family with allegations of corruption as part of its strategy to eliminate the political threat from Congress, and malign the reputation of a dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades after independence in 1947.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indian court denies opposition leader\u2019s plea seeking stay leaving his political future uncertain AHMEDABAD A court in India\u2019s western state of Gujarat on Thursday rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi\u2019s petition seeking a stay of conviction in a defamation case, fuelling uncertainty over whether he will be able to contest an election due next year. Gandhi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n