New Delhi: On Friday, a Surat court barred former Congress president Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha for his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case. The party has called this a move to "suppress" his voice and has vowed to appeal the verdict in court and at the polls.
The BJP denied the allegations and said the exclusion was within the law.
Several Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, have shown strong support for the embattled leader after his disqualification, which will ban him from standing elections for eight years unless stopped by a higher court. The Lok Sabha Secretariat notified the public of his disqualification on March 23, the date of his conviction.—Inputs from Agencies