India’s opposition unites in demanding Rahul Gandhi’s return as MP

NEW DELHI – India’s fractured opposition parties are coming together to demand that Rahul Gandhi be reinstated as a lawmaker after he was convicted of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  

Lawmaker Manish Tewari, who is a member of Gandhi’s Congress party, said there was an “unprecedented closure of ranks” among the opposition on the politician’s ouster, and they see it as an attempt to silence criticism of Mr Modi. 

In recent days, key regional parties have joined the main opposition Congress party for the first time to discuss strategy following Gandhi’s removal, while many more lawmakers have tweeted their support.

Mr Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that the law applies equally to everyone and that Gandhi must face the consequences. 

“All the opposition parties are today on the same page,” Mr Tewari told Bloomberg TV anchors Haslinda Amin and Yvonne Man.

“No. 1, they are demanding there should be a joint parliamentary committee to go into l’affaire Adani in the wake of the allegations made in short-seller Hindenburg’s report, and No. 2, they are demanding a rollback in the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.”

Gandhi has said the decision to remove him was politically motivated, characterising it as an attempt by the government to silence him and keep him from debating Mr Modi’s alleged ties to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.

The tycoon and his conglomerate have denied allegations of fraud and market manipulation from United States short-seller Hindenburg Research, calling it an attack on India.  

It remains to be seen if the opposition, often beset by infighting, can turn Gandhi’s expulsion from Parliament into a call to unite ahead of national elections that are about a year away.

Mr Modi and the BJP have defeated the opposition and Gandhi for two straight elections and are widely expected by analysts and observers to win another term. 

Gandhi, a scion of India’s most famous political dynasty, was ousted from Parliament as a lawmaker last Friday, after a local court convicted him of defaming Mr Modi during an election speech in 2019.

The 52-year-old politician was sentenced to two years in jail but immediately granted bail.

He was expected to file an appeal on Tuesday.

On Monday, 17 opposition parties – including firebrand leader Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress; Samajwadi Party, which has a following in the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh; the Communist Party of India; and parties that rule southern states, such as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – attended a Congress-led strategy meeting. 

Trinamool had earlier said it would stay equidistant from the Congress party and BJP.

Also at the meeting was the Bharat Rashtra Samithi party, a rival of Congress in Telangana state, local media reported. 

Gandhi also faces the risk of being barred from contesting the national polls if the higher court does not stay his conviction or reduce his prison time.

India’s laws state that those sentenced to jail for two years or more cannot take part in electoral contests for six years after the completion of their sentence. 

Mr Tewari said the broader issue was the emerging trend of India’s democratic freedoms coming under attack with the move to oust Gandhi. 

“This has a chilling effect on free speech – that you can file a defamation against anyone anywhere in the country, get the matter fast-tracked, get the person convicted and throw him out of Parliament,” he said. BLOOMBERG