BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Monday said the reinstatement of Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership is a temporary relief to the Congress leader till the matter is finally settled.
The Lok Sabha membership of Gandhi was restored on Monday, days after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction by a Gujarat court in a defamation case. Gandhi was accorded a warm welcome by Congress and other opposition MPs on his arrival in Parliament.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification announcing that his disqualification has been revoked and his membership restored following a Supreme Court order staying his conviction. Asked about it, Surya told PTI, “This is a temporary relief till the final hearing takes place and matter is finally settled. As a consequence of this interim order of the Supreme Court, Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership has been temporarily reinstated."
“If the Supreme Court upholds the conviction of the Gujarat HC, then naturally Rahul Gandhi's membership will stand cancelled another time. As long as it exists, he may be happy with that,” said Surya, who is the Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru South.
Surya, the national president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), was in Bhopal in connection with party-related programmes. Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member on March 24, with effect from March 23 after a Gujarat court convicted him in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail.
A punishment for two years and above automatically disqualifies a lawmaker. The Supreme Court last Friday stayed his conviction, paving the way for restoration of his Lok Sabha membership. He represents Wayanad (in Kerala) in the Lower House.
