New Delhi: The Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala was declared vacant on Friday after its MP Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament following his conviction in a four-year-old defamation case.
"Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat in C.C./18712/2019, Shri Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951," the notification by the Lok Sabha Secretariat reads.
Rahul Gandhi represented the Amethi parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019 till he was defeated by BJP leader Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
He won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad, the second seat he had contested.
According to the Lok Sabha website, there are currently three vacant seats – Jalandhar, Lakshadweep and Wayanad.
The Jalandhar seat fell vacant after the demise of Congress member Santokh Singh Chaudhary, and the Lakshadweep seat fell vacant after the disqualification of NCP member Mohammad Faizal PP, after his conviction in an attempt to murder case in which he was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Earlier on Thursday, a court in Surat sentenced the Congress leader to two years in jail in the defamation case filed against him over his "Modi surname" remarks. The court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.
Meanwhile, the Congress reacted to the development saying that it will fight the 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," the party's General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh wrote on Twitter.