Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 24: Taking a very swift action, the Lok Sabha secretariat on Friday unseated the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as a member of the lower house and declared his Lok Sabha constituency Wayanad in Kerala vacant.
His disqualification as an MP was ordered within 24 hours of his conviction by the Surat sessions court in the “Modi surname” case awarding him two years jail term on Thursday. The Election Commission of India will now be free to announce a special election for the Wayanad seat and unless his conviction by the sessions court was reversed, Rahul Gandhi will not be allowed to contest an election for eight years.
Mr Gandhi will also get only a month before he would be required to vacate the government bungalow he was allocated as an MP.
The swift action by the Lok Sabha secretariat immediately evoked critical remarks from another “disqualified” MP the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mohammed Faizal who was representing Lakshadweep. On Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, Faizal remarked that the Lok Sabha secretariat was quick to disqualify a member but was very slow to reinstate when the time arose.
Faizal stood disqualified from membership of the Lok Sabha from January 11, the date of his conviction by a sessions court in Kavaratti in an alleged attempt to murder case, according to a notification issued on January 13 by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Later, the Kerala High Court on January 25 suspended Faizal’s conviction saying that not doing so would result in fresh elections for his vacant seat which would impose an immense financial burden on the government and the public.
However, despite the Kerala HC order and a subsequent Law Ministry recommendation that he be reinstated, the LS Secretariat is yet to issue an order reinstating him, Faizal said. The former MP is yet to be allowed inside the Lok Sabha despite his conviction being suspended by the Kerala High Court. “The Lok Sabha Secretariat without a hitch is quick to disqualify. But they take their own time where reinstatement is concerned, even when the legal position is clear. “Look at how quick they were to disqualify Rahul Gandhi. His conviction and sentencing were barely 24 hours ago,” he pointed out.
A notification from the lower House, signed by Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh said, “Mr. Gandhi stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction, as per the terms of Article 102 (1)(e) of the Constitution and Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”
Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment for his “why all thieves have Modi surname” comment he made during the parliamentary election campaign in Karnataka in 2019. The court suspended the sentence for 30 days, so that Gandhi can appeal in a higher court and also granted him bail on ₹10,000 bond. According to the Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, which guides the disqualification of a legislator, the moment a Member of Parliament is convicted of any offence and sentenced for at least two years, she or he attracts disqualification.
Experts though have differing views on whether the conviction and sentencing means immediate disqualification or the Wayanad MP gets time if he appeals. The Supreme Court in a 2013 verdict had said any MP or MLA stands disqualified from the time of his conviction if a sentence of two or more years is pronounced. Gandhi is the second MP after Faizal to be disqualified in the recent times.
Reacting to Mr. Gandhi’s disqualification, Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said he was stunned by the rapid action. “I’m stunned by this action and by its rapidity, within 24 hours of the court verdict and while an appeal was known to be in process. This is politics with the gloves off and it bodes ill for our democracy,” he tweeted.
Congress leader and party’s General Secretary (Communication) said the party won’t be intimidated by this action. “We will fight this battle both legally and politically. We will not be intimidated or silenced. Instead of a JPC into the PM-linked Adani MahaMegaScam, @RahulGandhi stands disqualified. Indian Democracy Om Shanti,” he tweeted.
The disqualified NCP MP Faizal said Rahul Gandhi would now have to move the High Court in Gujarat to suspend his conviction and if no relief was available from there, then move the Supreme Court. “He (Gandhi) will have to walk the same route as me,” the NCP leader said, adding that he himself was gearing up to move the apex court against the inordinate and inexplicable delay by the LS Secretariat in reinstating him.
“They have been sitting on the file for nearly two months now without a reason. Whenever I make enquiries, they say they will do it shortly. I cannot keep waiting like this. I already lost one session. “I have no option but to move the court,” he said.
The Congress called it a “conspiracy” to silence the leader, who has been dogged in his attacks on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had been the de facto head of the main opposition party for nearly a decade. Gandhi, who debuted in parliament in 2004 and comes from a family that has given India three Prime Ministers, marched across India this year to revive the political fortunes of the Congress and galvanise its supporters.
The once-dominant Congress controls less than a tenth of the elected seats in parliament’s lower house and has been decimated by the BJP in two successive general elections, most recently in 2019 under Gandhi’s leadership.
“Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership has been terminated. He is constantly fighting for you and this country, from the streets to the Parliament, trying everything possible to save democracy. Despite every conspiracy, he will continue this fight at all costs and will take just action in this matter. The fight continues,” Congress said in a tweet in Hindi. The party also changed its social media display picture to a vignette of Rahul Gandhi with the words ‘Daro Mat’ (Don’t Be Afraid).
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari called the decision “erroneous”. “Lok Sabha secretariat cannot disqualify an MP. The President has to do it in consultation with the Election Commission,” he said. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot called it an example of “dictatorship.” Several opposition leaders have also expressed shock and criticised the BJP for the decision.
The BJP, however, disagreed. “By the operation of the law, he stands disqualified, but the decision has to be communicated to the Speaker. But as of today, he stands disqualified,” noted lawyer and BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani said.
Former union law minister Kapil Sibal, also a senior advocate formerly with the Congress, also said Mr Gandhi stands automatically disqualified as an MP with his two-year jail sentence. “If it (the court) only suspends the sentence, that’s not enough. There has to be a suspension or stay of conviction. He (Rahul Gandhi) can stay on as a member of parliament only if there is a stay on the conviction,” Sibal said.
The BJP said the conviction has come from an independent judiciary, with party president JP Nadda accusing Gandhi of insulting an Other Backward Class (OBC) community – a key vote base for the party.
Rahul Gandhi’s team has said they will challenge the verdict in a higher court. “Rahul Gandhi will not stop from asking difficult questions and exposing crony capitalism and this government’s active role in promoting and protecting it,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said.
Several senior lawmakers have been disqualified from legislatures in the past. Indira Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother, was briefly forced out of the chamber by a court decision in 1977 while she was Prime Minister. But opposition parties say legal action against opposition party figures and institutions critical of the Modi government has seen a sharp rise in recent years.
