Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to appear in court Monday to appeal a criminal conviction for mocking the Prime Minister’s surname.
India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi arrives at a court in Surat, India, Thursday, March 23, 2023. Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to appear in court Monday to appeal a criminal conviction for mocking the Prime Minister's surname that saw Gandhi expelled from Parliament, dealing a huge blow to his Congress Party ahead of general elections next year.
Gandhi flew from the capital, New Delhi, to Surat, a city in India's Gujarat state, today to appear in a local court where the opposition leader 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 the prime minister’s surname, which is common in his home state of 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, and unrelated Modis, in the speech: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket executive banned from the Indian Premier League, and the prime minister.
Gandhi was convicted on March 23 and expelled from Parliament the next day, sparking opposition lawmakers to rally to his defense and call his expulsion a new low for India’s constitutional democracy. Gandhi was given bail for 30 days. 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 will likely not be able to contest national elections in 2024.
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