Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from parliament Friday, a day after he was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison on defamation charges over remarks that alluded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname.
Gandhi’s Congress Party, which has called the judgment politically motivated, led protests in India’s capital and accused Modi’s government of jeopardizing democracy by trying to silence the opposition and making “unthinkable assaults on freedom of speech.”
“We all know that Gandhi had been speaking out fearlessly inside and outside parliament. Clearly he is paying a price for it,” Congress Party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters. “This government is finding new techniques of throttling his voice, of gagging him only to divert attention from burning issues of the day.”
Several opposition lawmakers held a banner saying “Democracy in Danger” as they tried to march to the president’s palace in New Delhi but were detained by police.
The defamation case was filed by Purnesh Modi, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the prime minister’s home state, Gujarat, in connection with a remark Gandhi made at an election rally in the run-up to the 2019 general elections.
"Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?" Gandhi said before going on to name fugitive Indian diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, banned Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi, and Narendra Modi.
Gandhi, who said his remarks were meant to highlight corruption and were not directed against any community, has been granted bail for 30 days and plans to appeal the verdict.
BJP leaders have criticized the Congress Party for raising questions about the court order, insisting Gandhi’s conviction followed due process of law. “Are Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi higher than the law of the country?” federal minister Bhupender Yadav asked at a press conference.
Gandhi’s remarks, Yadav added, denigrated lower rungs of India’s traditional caste grouping under which the Modi surname falls.
Gandhi’s disqualification has raised questions whether he will be able to contest general elections scheduled to be held next year; he can only do so if the sentence is suspended or he is acquitted in the case following an appeal.
Senior Congress Party leaders said they were “stunned” by how swiftly Thursday’s court decision resulted in Gandhi’s expulsion from Parliament. “This is politics with the gloves off and it bodes ill for our democracy," senior Congress Party leader Shashi Tharoor said.
The disqualification of Gandhi could forge some unity among opposition parties, which have been accusing Modi’s government of trying to quell dissent.
Following Gandhi’s conviction, Arvind Kejriwal, head of the Aam Aadmi Party, alleged that Modi’s BJP is trying to eliminate leaders of other parties by prosecuting them.
“We have differences with the Congress [Party], but it is not right to implicate Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case like this,” Kejriwal tweeted. “It is the job of the public and the opposition to ask questions. We respect the court but disagree with the decision.”
Two senior Aam Aadmi leaders have been jailed on charges that the party calls politically motivated.
On Friday, Gandhi’s Congress Party was among 14 parties that approached the Supreme Court alleging that the federal government is misusing investigating agencies to target the BJP’s opponents.
Gandhi is expected to lead the Congress Party’s campaign in 2024 if he is legally able to. In January he ended a five-month march across the country to resurrect the political fortunes of his party, which has fared poorly in the last two elections as Modi has become the country’s most popular leader in decades.
