Rahul Gandhi, India’s opposition leader, appeals his defamation conviction
NEW DELHI — Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi appeared in court Monday to appeal a criminal conviction for mocking the prime minister’s surname, in a case that saw Gandhi expelled from Parliament and dealt a huge blow to his Congress party ahead of general elections next year.
Gandhi, a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main challenger in the 2024 polls, was ousted from Parliament after a court sentenced him to two years in prison for defamation for a comment made in a 2019 election speech.
The case against Gandhi, the great-grandson, grandson and son of former Indian prime ministers, was widely condemned by opponents of Modi as the latest assault against democracy and free speech by a government seeking to crush dissent. The speed of his removal from Parliament shocked political circles in India.
Gandhi flew from New Delhi to Surat, a city in India’s Gujarat state, on Monday to appear in a local court where he is expected to seek a suspension or temporary stay of his conviction, his lawyers told the Press Trust of India news agency.
A man who shares Modi’s surname, which is common in Gujarat, accused Gandhi of defamation over a 2019 speech in which he asked, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” Gandhi then referred to three well-known Modis in his speech, none of them related: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket executive banned from the Indian Premier League and the prime minister.
The petitioner who filed the case is a member of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party but is not related to the prime minister or the other two Modis mentioned by Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi says India’s right-wing government is dividing the country along religious lines. Followers hope his cross-country march can save democracy.
Gandhi was convicted March 23 and expelled from Parliament the following day, prompting opposition lawmakers to rally to his defense and to call his expulsion a new low for India’s constitutional democracy. Gandhi was granted 30 days’ bail.
Under Indian law, a criminal conviction with a prison sentence of two years or more is grounds for expulsion from Parliament. If Gandhi’s conviction is not suspended or overturned by a higher court, he could face prison and would likely not be able to contest national elections in 2024.
Modi’s critics say India’s democracy — the world’s largest, with nearly 1.4 billion people — has been in retreat since he first came to power in 2014. They accuse his populist government of pursuing a religious nationalist agenda, which his administration denies. Modi’s government says its policies benefit all Indians, not just Hindus.
Gandhi’s family, starting with his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, has produced three prime ministers. Two of them — Gandhi’s grandmother, Indira Gandhi, and his father, Rajiv Gandhi — were assassinated.
Even though Rahul Gandhi is projected to be Modi’s main challenger, his Indian National Congress party has suffered humiliating defeats in the last two general elections. In a bid to woo voters, Gandhi has railed against Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party in recent months, accusing them of corruption and of tarnishing India’s democratic credentials.
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