NEW DELHI: The Congress has demanded early reinstatement of former party president Rahul Gandhi as a Lok Sabha MP after the Supreme Court on Friday stayed his conviction in the Modi surname remark case. It has sought his reinstatement before August 8, when the Lower House starts debating on the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition.
Speaking to media persons, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi and leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Rahul should be reinstated as quickly as he was disqualified after a Surat court convicted him in the Modi surname remark case early this year.
They said it took just 24 hours for Rahul to be disqualified. Similarly, he should be reinstated with the same speed.
Kharge said Rahul was disqualified even though Surat is 1500-1600 kilometres away from Delhi and it should have taken some time for the order to reach Delhi. “Now we have to see how many hours he is reinstated in. The distance between the Supreme Court and Parliament is hardly a few kilometres,” he said.
The leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha said, “Therefore, I feel he should perhaps be reinstated by tonight or just now. Let us see. We will wait. We have waited for so long. We will wait for their order.”
Chowdhury said the Congress’s initiatives for reinstatement as MP has already started. The moment he learnt about the Supreme Court verdict, he rushed inside the Lok Sabha and, as a point of information, informed Rajendra Agrawal, who was presiding over the business.
The Congress MP subsequently met Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla who asked him to make the order available. “The speaker said he will see after that,” he said.
Chowdhury explicitly said he wants Rahul’s reinstatement before the Lok Sabha starts debate on the no-confidence motion on August 8. “We want Rahul ji to take part in the debate on the no-confidence motion which starts on Tuesday,” he said.
He also raised the matter of Rahul’s official residence. He alleged that the former Congress president’s house on Tughlaq Road was taken away from him and he was evicted in a hurry. “He has to get his house back, not necessarily the same one. We are not begging. It is a question of his rights,” he said.
Singhvi, who fought the case for Rahul in the Gujarat high court and the Supreme Court, hoped that he would be reinstated with grace and without delay.
He hoped Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal Padippura’s case would not be repeated in Rahul’s case. He said the Lok Sabha kept delaying his reinstatement despite the stay on his conviction. He moved the apex court again, this time for his reinstatement. However, just before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the petition, the government rushed in and said it will reinstate Padippura.
Singhvi said, “We hope and trust we do not have to do it again in Rahul's case. We hope the government shows grace and reinstates him soon.”
He informed that a copy of the judgment should come by evening and hoped that Rahul should be reinstated by August 7. “Otherwise, it would be seen as mala fide.”
He said any move by the Lok Sabha to seek further opinion would be seen as an excuse. “They did not seek any opinion while disqualifying him,” he added.
