ISLAMABAD: India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was restored to parliament after the Supreme Court suspended his defamation conviction last week.
Gandhi, the scion of India’s premier political dynasty, had faced disqualification from parliament due to the conviction, which was over political comments criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Utpal Kumar Singh, secretary general of the lower parliament house, said that Gandhi’s disqualification has ceased to operate, subject to further judicial pronouncements.
The conviction had resulted from a remark made by Gandhi during the 2019 election campaign, where he questioned why “all thieves have Modi as (their) common surname.” Critics flagged the case as an attempt to restrain political opposition in the world’s largest democracy.
The comment was portrayed as a slur against the prime minister and those with the same surname, associated with the lower rungs of India’s caste hierarchy.
Gandhi’s imprisonment was for a period of two years. Anyone sentenced to a custodial term of two years or more is ineligible to sit in India’s parliament, leading to his expulsion from the body in March.
However, he stayed out of jail while appealing to the Supreme Court.
Congress head Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed Gandhi’s reinstatement and called on the government to focus on governance rather than targeting opposition leaders.
Fellow Congress party MP Shashi Tharoor expressed relief at Gandhi’s reinstatement and highlighted it as a victory for justice and Indian democracy.
Gandhi, who comes from a political lineage of former prime ministers, is expected to resume his duties in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) to serve the people of India and his constituents.
India’s top court suspended Gandhi’s defamation conviction, stating that the initial trial had failed to justify imposing the maximum sentence for his campaign rally comments made four years ago. Gandhi’s political party, Congress, has been trying to form a grand coalition with regional opposition parties to challenge Modi’s BJP in the 2024 national elections. They seek to counter the BJP’s centralized and nationalistic appeal to voters.
