New Delhi: The Congress has expressed strong protest against Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla for the delay to reinstate Rahul Gandhi as Member of Parliament. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the party will wait till Monday to take further action.
It is rumoured that Rahul Gandhi is likely to arrive at the parliament on Monday without bothering about the LS secretariate's notification on his reinstatement. But the AICC general secretary has refused to comment on this.
“As the Supreme Court has stayed the lower court's conviction, all proceedings, including the disqualification, have been cancelled. Rahul Gandhi has contacted the speaker's office to complete the formalities to revoke his disqualification. But the speaker refused to give an appointment to him and asked Gandhi to contact his secretary,” said Venugopal.
He pointed out that the Wayanad constituency is suffering a lot after losing its representative in the parliament.
"People are being denied of their rights in Wayanad as Gandhi's disqualification has affected many projects," he added.
“Congress is not bothered about the MP post. But the Centre is torturing Gandhi. Lok Sabha speaker denied appointment to Gandhi when he approached him soon after the Supreme Court gave its verdict. Lok Sabha secretariat is bound to reinstate Gandhi as the apex court has issued its judgement in his favour,” said the AICC general secretary.
“Lok Sabha secretariat swiftly took action to disqualify Gandhi and the Centre forced him to vacate from his official residence. But now, no action is being taken to reinstate him. I think the BJP is afraid of Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha. And that's why they are delaying his reinstatement. If Modi is afraid of Gandhi's presence in Lok Sabha, he should clarify that,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Congress leader claimed that the opposition has moved a no-confidence motion against the government to bring the Prime Minister to the house and clear his stance on Manipur violence.
“Modi neither issued any statement nor tried to restore peace in the violence-hit Manipur yet,” criticised the AICC general secretary.
SC order
Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" comment made at an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
The Congress leader was disqualified as a Member of Parliament on March 24 after a Gujarat court convicted him and sentenced him to two-year imprisonment for criminal defamation for comments he made about the Modi surname.
It was on August 4, the Supreme Court stayed Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 defamation case over his Modi surname remark, paving the way for revival of his Lok Sabha membership.
The Lok Sabha speaker can now revive his membership on his own or Gandhi, armed with the apex court order, can seek restoration of his status as an MP.
A three-judge bench of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar, while granting Gandhi the relief, said no reason was given by the trial court judge while convicting him except that he was admonished by the apex court in a contempt case.
It said the least the trial court judge was expected to do was give some reasons for imposing the maximum sentence provided under the defamation act that led to Gandhi being awarded a term of two years in jail, having attracted the provisions of the electoral law that envisages automatic disqualification of an MLA or MP sentenced to two years in jail.
(With PTI inputs)
