Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has vacated his official residence in central Delhi, which he had been occupying since 2005, following his disqualification as an MP of the lower house of Parliament. The Lok Sabha Housing Committee, headed by BJP MP CR Patil, had sent him a letter asking him to vacate the property by April 22. Though he is required to move out according to protocol, Congress leaders have accused the Centre of political vendetta.
Gandhi’s disqualification came after he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison in a 2019 defamation case for his comments at an election rally in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. He had asked whether people with the “Modi surname” were “thieves”. The Gujarat court had given him 30 days to file an appeal, which he did, but he lost the appeal last week.
A disqualified MP is not entitled to a government accommodation and gets a one-month period to vacate his official residence. Mr Gandhi is likely to move to his mother Sonia Gandhi’s bungalow in central Delhi’s 10 Janpath.
The BJP has accused Mr Gandhi of “melodrama”, while Congress has alleged that the Centre is being vindictive in going after Mr Gandhi. Mr Gandhi will now have to appeal in the Gujarat High Court or the Supreme Court against the Surat court’s order to retain his Lok Sabha membership.
