A court in Surat in Gujarat on Thursday rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea for stay on conviction in a defamation case that saw him being disqualified as Lok Sabha MP by observing he should have been "more careful with his words" since he was a member of Parliament and the then president of the country's second largest political party.
The court in Gujarat's Surat city which on Thursday sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to a two-year jail term in a criminal defamation case noted that the seriousness of his crime increased because a speech delivered by a Member of Parliament has a "very wide impact on the public."
One fallout of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification will be reflected in the Opposition's role in Parliament and related institutions.
Tension gripped Kerala as an unidentified person allegedly hurled an explosive substance at the state headquarters of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday night.
The 52-year-old Congress leader reached Surat in the afternoon via a scheduled commercial flight along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and proceeded to the sessions court.
Senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are accompanying Rahul Gandhi to the court.
The former Congress president was asked to vacate the premises by April 22 following his disqualification after the conviction and two-year sentence by a Surat court for his 'Modi surname' remark.
As the low-pressure area in the south-eastern Arabian Sea intensified into a severe depression on Friday, heavy rains lashed many parts of Kerala and huge tidal waves started hitting low-lying coastal areas.
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case over his Modi surname remark, restoring his status as an MP.
"One cannot treat women with disrespect. Kamalnath ji is from my party. But I don't like personally that type of language that Kamalnath ji has used. I do not appreciate it. It is unfortunate", Gandhi, on a three day visit to Kerala, told reporters.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the restoration of statehood and democratic process is a very important step in Jammu and Kashmir as he avoided a question on whether his party would be part of an Opposition alliance in the Union Territory.
'Somehow, Rahul Gandhi is not able to connect with the youth of the country.' 'While Modiji is 72, Rahul is only 52.' 'But the popularity of the prime minister among the young population is a lot more than Rahul's.'
'When the Congress is put against someone like Narendra Modi, they do not have anything new to offer to the people of India.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told British parliamentarians in London on Monday that functioning microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the Opposition.
Post-Karnataka, it would be a mistake to underestimate the BJP. It should be amply clear by now that the Right-Wing is more an elaborate theatre than a single scene, actor or play, warns Shyam G Menon.
Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said efforts are being made since the last few days that a 'formula' or middle path is found with both the Opposition and the government relenting.
He also announced unemployment allowance for the youth, as the party's fourth poll guarantee, on coming to power.
"The death toll has gone up to 24. The search operations are still going on. However, rains have started. "Despite that, our officials, and the NDRF are engaged in search and rescue operations," Idukki District Collector H Dineshan said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who set off a national debate when he walked the Bharat Jodo Yatra in a T-shirt in north India's cold winter, donned a pheran to ward off Kashmir's bone-freezing chill on Monday.
A stay order could have paved the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as Member of Parliament (MP).
'I don't want to give any headline to the media as at present my focus is on the Bharat Jodo Yatra'
The court of Justice Hemant Prachchhak, however, said no interim protection can be granted at this stage.
'Vote banks will change affiliations and the BJP will come out with good success in Kerala.'
'The situation in India is much more grave and serious than all of us think.' 'That's why it's important to defeat the BJP in 2024.'
Rahul made his clash with the Sangh ideology clear amid growing speculations about BJP leader and his cousin Varun Gandhi's entry into Congress, as he said that their ideologies do not match.
'The judge could have given him a six-month, one-year, or one-and-half-year sentence also because the maximum punishment for defamation cases is two years.' 'Disqualification happens only if one is sentenced for two years; it does not happen if the disqualification is for one-and-half years.' 'But the period of sentence is the judge's discretion.'
Another Member of Parliament, Professor Manoj Jha from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, who also went for a function in which Rahul Gandhi was participating in London, had all due permission including -- the due political clearance.
The IMD has issued Yellow alert for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts for today whereas Wayanad too has Yellow alert on May 22.
The discussion will prove Gandhi has more knowledge about religion and spirituality than these persons, Kamal Nath said.
The Congress chief, however, said he was not expecting any cooperation from the prime minister and the BJP-led central government for the development of Wayanad and Kerala.
Meanwhile, flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at 12 noon on Sunday, an airport official said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has sought more time from the Enforcement Directorate to appear before it as she is still suffering from Covid, party sources said on Tuesday.
"This river-like journey will persist and in this river you will not find any trace of hate or violence. There will only be love and brotherhood as this is India's history and DNA," Gandhi told the gathering.
If they will allow I will speak inside the parliament, the Wayanad MP said.
Gandhi had recently alleged in London that the structures of Indian democracy are under "brutal attack" and there is a full-scale assault on the institutions of the country.
'Anybody is free and welcome to contest in the election if they have the backing of 10 PCC delegates'
The Opposition MP pointed to a set of changes taking place in India that had caught the Congress and UPA government off guard, such as a shift from rural to urban.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday told a sessions court in Surat his conviction by a magistrate's court in a 2019 defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark was erroneous, patently perverse, and he was sentenced in a manner so as to attract disqualification as a member of Parliament.
The journey has been tough and unconventional, but it has been worthwhile as Kerala tribal Minnu Mani became the only girl from the state to play in the WPL.
'The Congress's arrogance and unrealistic claims have weakened the anti-BJP movement at the national level.'
