NEW DELHI, Mar 24: In a big blow to the Congress, its leader Rahul Gandhi was today disqualified from Lok Sabha, nearly 24 hours after a Surat court convicted him in a defamation case, an action the opposition party slammed as BJP’s “vindictive politics” and vowed to fight legally and politically.The BJP dismissed the charges and termed the disqualification “lawful”.Announcing his disqualification, the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification said following his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat, Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of the House from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March 2023.The disqualification will bar 52-year-old Gandhi, a four-time MP, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.
