Disqualification from parliament: The road ahead for Rahul
Having been disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a criminal defamation case, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi now stares at a challenging road ahead, both electorally and politically.
Rahul Gandhi has his tasks cut out on the legal as well as political fronts, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The court in Surat granted Rahul bail and suspended his two-year in prison sentence for 30 days to let him appeal against the decision. The court's order put him at risk of automatic disqualification as a member of parliament under the law, according to some legal experts.
Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, says that the moment a member of parliament is convicted of any offence and sentenced for at least two years, she or he attracts disqualification.
India's former law minister Kapil Sibal, also a senior lawyer formerly with Congress, said Rahul Gandhi stands automatically disqualified as an MP with his two-year jail sentence.
Only if a higher court suspends Rahul's sentence and stays his conviction, he can remain as lawmaker, Sibal said.
Legal experts say if the Surat court verdict is not overturned by a higher court, Rahul Gandhi will not be allowed to contest elections for the next eight years, including the coming general elections due in early 2024 as also the next one five years down the line.
The Section 8(3) of the RPA says that a person convicted of any offence and sent to imprisonment to not less than two years, would be disqualified from the date of such conviction and would continue to be barred from contesting poll for a further period of six years since his or her release.
Accordingly, Rahul Gandhi's immediate challenge is to get his conviction quashed in a higher court in order to save his electoral future. If Rahul succeeds in having his two-year sentence given by the Surat court reduced by a higher court, it can save the former Congress President's Lok Sabha membership.
On the political front, can Rahul's disqualification have the effect of uniting a fragmented anti-BJP opposition? Already, leaders generally considered critical of Congress like West Bengal and Delhi chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal came out in support of Rahul post the court's conviction with the common "democracy in danger" refrain.
But the key question is: will this be a strong enough a glue to coalesce the opposition? In the past, many anti-BJP regional parties have hesitated to align with Congress because they fought with each other for the political turf in the states.
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