Hours after Rahul Gandhi was reinstated as the Lok Sabha MP, the Congress leaders attended the Parliament session that resumed at 12pm and got adjourned within minutes. On Monday morning, Gandhi was accorded a warm welcome by Congress and opposition MPs on his arrival at the Parliament, where he offered floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi's statue.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification announcing that his disqualification has been revoked and his membership restored following a Supreme Court order staying his conviction in the 2019 'Modi surname' defamation case. Senior Congress leaders and party workers hailed Gandhi's reinstatement as a Lok Sabha MP, saying it is a victory for truth and justice.
As soon as the Lok Sabha membership of the Congress leader was restored, celebrations broke out at the AICC headquarters here with workers dancing and raising slogans in favour of Gandhi.
Following the restoration of his membership, the Congress said it would like him to be a key speaker in the debate on the no-confidence motion likely to be taken up in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
No more Dis'Qualified MP
With his Lok Sabha membership restored, Gandhi on Monday changed his Twitter bio to 'Member of Parliament' from the earlier "Dis'Qualified MP" description.
Following his disqualification from the Lok Sabha in March, early this year, Gandhi had edited his bio on Twitter to "Dis'Qualified MP".
His status as the MP from Kerala's Wayanad was restored after the Lok Sabha secretariat issued a notification in the wake of the Supreme Court staying on Friday his conviction in a defamation case.
His Twitter bio now describes him as a member of the Indian National Congress and a Member of Parliament.
What was the defamation case?
In 2019, Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" Gandhi made this remark during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
Following this, a Gujarat Court on March 23, early this year, convicted Gandhi and sentenced him to two years in prison. The next day, he was disqualified as an MP.
The Congress leader then challenged that order in a sessions court along with a request to pause his conviction. While the sessions court granted him bail on April 20 and agreed to hear his challenge, it refused to stay the conviction. On July 15, filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the HC's order and on August 4, the apex court stayed his conviction.
