Wayanad parliamentary seat declared vacant after Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha

The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala was declared vacant, hours after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha. Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament on Friday after he was sentenced to a two-year jail term in a criminal defamation case by a lower court in Surat.  

The Lok Sabha secretariat issued a notification on Friday disqualifying Gandhi as a member of the Lok Sabha of Parliament following his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case. The update about the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency was flashed on the Lok Sabha website late on Friday.

With this, the Election Commission will have to announce a fresh by-election in Wayanad in the coming days, since no seat can be left vacant for more than six months, according to a report in India Today. 
Gandhi won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by defeating CPI contestant PP Suneer, by a margin of more than 4.31 lakh votes. 

On Thursday, Gandhi was convicted by the Surat court and sentenced to two years imprisonment in the defamation case, filed on the complaint of BJP leader Purnesh Modi for Gandhi's alleged remark, "how come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?"

Reacting to the disqualification, Congress said: "This is outrageous and truth shall prevail."

"The day Rahul Gandhi raised questions against Adani, PM, this type of conspiracy was started to silence Rahul Gandhi. It's a clear case of the anti-democratic, dictatorship attitude of BJP govt," said Congress MP KC Venugopal.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said Congress would continue their demand for a JPC probe into the Adani group issue despite their steps against Gandhi.

"They tried all ways to disqualify him. They don't want to keep those who are speaking the truth but we will continue to speak the truth. We'll continue to demand JPC, If needed we'll go to jail to save democracy," Congress chief Kharge said.

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