Shruti Suman
Rahul Gandhi, a Member of Parliament from the Congress party, has regained possession of his official bungalow in Delhi. This comes after he was reinstated as a parliamentarian following a Supreme Court stay on his conviction in the 2019 “Modi surname” defamation case.
The Lok Sabha House Committee has allocated Mr. Gandhi his previous residence at 12, Tughlaq Lane, according to sources.
Earlier in April, Rahul Gandhi vacated his official residence in central Delhi as per protocol, after being disqualified as an MP in March due to a conviction in the criminal defamation case by a Surat court. A disqualified MP is not entitled to a government accommodation and is given a month to vacate the official residence.
The Lok Sabha Housing Committee had requested him to vacate the official bungalow, where he had been residing since 2005.
Upon moving out, Rahul Gandhi expressed that he felt “punished” for speaking the truth and no longer wished to live in the house since it was taken away from him, despite it being provided by the people of India.
However, the Supreme Court’s recent order stayed his conviction, stating that while his remarks were inappropriate, his disqualification from parliament would negatively affect his constituents.
Following this court order, Rahul Gandhi has returned to the Lok Sabha at a time when the parliament is facing repeated disruptions due to the Opposition bloc INDIA’s demand for a dedicated discussion on the violence in Manipur, preceded by PM Modi’s statement.
Mr. Gandhi had been disqualified in March after receiving a two-year jail term in the defamation case for his comments about PM Modi’s surname. During a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar before the 2019 general election, he had made a remark questioning why all thieves had ‘Modi’ as a common surname.
