Rahul Gandhi reinstated as Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on Monday reinstated as the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad.

The decision comes two days after the Supreme Court had stayed Gandhi’s conviction in a criminal defamation case for a speech he had made ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in which he asked why many thieves had the surname Modi.

Lok Sabha Secretariat restores membership of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme Court on Friday (August 4) stayed his conviction in the ‘Modi’ surname remark case.

He was disqualified from the lower house in March 2023. pic.twitter.com/UBE3FvCGEN— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2023

Gandhi was disqualified as an MP on March 24, a day after a Gujarat court held him guilty in the case.

The court had awarded Gandhi the maximum punishment of two years in the case, which led to his immediate disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP. The decision was upheld by the Gujarat High Court.

Under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a legislator sentenced to jail for two years or more stands to be disqualified from the date of conviction till six years after serving time.

On Friday, Gandhi said that the Supreme Court’s decision to stay his conviction in a defamation case was a victory of truth.

“This had to happen as the truth emerges victorious one day or...

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