Rahul Gandhi returns to House, hailed by Oppn, will be among speakers in no-trust motion

Upbeat at the development, particularly ahead of the no-trust motion debate, many INDIA bloc MPs were seen walking up to Rahul to congratulate him in the House.

संसद की सदस्यता बहाल होने के बाद जननायक @RahulGandhi जी संसद पहुंचे।

संसद पहुंचते ही उन्होंने परिसर में लगी गांधी प्रतिमा को प्रणाम कर आशीर्वाद लिया।

ये करोड़ों भारतवासियों की जीत है।
असत्य के खिलाफ सत्य की जीत है।
नफरत के खिलाफ मोहब्बत की जीत है। pic.twitter.com/RjO921MQDn

— Congress (@INCIndia) August 7, 2023

While the overwhelming NDA majority means the Modi government will easily survive the no-trust motion, the Opposition plans to use the debate to nail it over a range of issues, including the ongoing violence in Manipur, and to force Prime Minister Modi to speak on the situation on the floor of the House.

In its notification announcing Rahul’s reinstatement as MP, issued around 10.15 am, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said that in the wake of the Supreme Court order Friday, his disqualification on March 4 had ceased to operate, subject to further judicial pronouncements in the case.

As soon as the House met at 11 am, Congress MPs stood up and started shouting slogans, including “Rahul Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi”.

BJP MPs rose from their seats to shout them down, but Union ministers Anurag Thakur and Pralhad Joshi were seen asking them to sit down. Speaker Om Birla took up the Question Hour but the Congress and DMK MPs continued to stand near their seats. No Opposition MP went to the Well of the House.

“Garv se bolo INDIA, paschim bolo INDIA, purav bolo INDIA (Say with pride INDIA, West say INDIA, East say INDIA),” Opposition leaders shouted.

The Speaker said the House could not be disturbed with slogans, and asked them to attend the Question Hour, but the MPs refused to pay heed.

Around 11.45 am, Rahul reached the Parliament House and went straight to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on the premises to offer his tribute before entering the House from Gate No. 2 – usually reserved for visitors – to attend the proceedings around noon.

Congress MPs, along with some Opposition leaders, thronged the main gate of the Parliament building to welcome him, with sweets distributed and slogans raised hailing Rahul. They then ushered the Congress leader into the House, while still shouting slogans.

Congress sources said that minutes after 11 AM, all the Lok Sabha MPs of the party had got a text message on their phones from Chowdhury asking them to be present at the main gate of Parliament at 11.50 am.

Seconds before Rahul was to reach, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi walked into the House.

Immediately after Rahul took his seat in the Lok Sabha around noon, the House plunged into chaos as BJP MP Nishikant Dubey made a submission alleging that the Congress and the Gandhis had “joined hands with anti-India forces to break India”. He accused Opposition parties of supporting a news platform that, as per a New York Times report, received funds from a firm linked to China to spread Beijing’s propaganda.

जननायक राहुल गांधी जी संसद पहुंच गए हैं. pic.twitter.com/DftUMDOnbz

— Congress (@INCIndia) August 7, 2023

The chaos ensured that the House proceedings lasted barely a few minutes. Rahul sat in silence through the disruption.

Later, he met a delegation of Congress leaders from Manipur at the CPP office, along with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia and AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal.

Rahul Gandhi offers respects before a statue of Mahatma Gandhi upon his arrival at the Parliament in New Delhi on Monday. (AP Photo)

The Manipur leaders present at the meeting included its state president K Meghachandra Singh, former chief minister and CLP leader Okram Ibobi Singh, Deputy CLP Leader K Ranjit Singh and state Congress treasurer and MLA Th Lokeshwar Singh.

Kharge, Rahul and Sonia also went to the DMK office in Parliament to pay respects to M Karunanidhi on his death anniversary. Rahul exchanged pleasantries with the DMK MPs there.

The decision to reinstate Shri @RahulGandhi as an MP is a welcome step.

It brings relief to the people of India, and especially to Wayanad.

Whatever time is left of their tenure, BJP and Modi Govt should utilise that by concentrating on actual governance rather than… pic.twitter.com/kikcZqfFvn

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) August 7, 2023

At around 1.10 pm, Rahul left Parliament. Later, he attended a meeting of Haryana leaders along with Kharge and Venugopal at the AICC headquarters.

Pralhad Joshi, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said that the authorities had followed due legal process in reinstating Rahul, “immediately after receiving the Supreme Court’s order”.

With his Lok Sabha membership restored, Rahul during the day changed his Twitter bio to Congress member and ‘Member of Parliament’, from ‘Dis’Qualified MP’.

Welcoming Rahul’s reinstatement as MP, Kharge said it “brings relief to the people of India, and especially Wayanad”. “Whatever time is left of their tenure, the BJP and Modi government should utilise it by concentrating on actual governance rather than denigrating Democracy by targeting opposition leaders,” Kharge tweeted.

देश की जनता के असल मुद्दों की आवाज एक बार फिर संसद में गूँजेगी।

श्री @RahulGandhi जी के साथ कंधे से कंधा मिलाकर संघर्ष करने वाले लाखों कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ताओं व इन्साफ और सच की लड़ाई में समर्थन देने वाले करोड़ों देशवासियों का तहे दिल से धन्यवाद । pic.twitter.com/2HpWOWqY1u

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 7, 2023

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted: “The voice of the real issues of the people will once again reverberate in Parliament.”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav hoped that the Uttar Pradesh Assembly membership of party leader Mohammad Azam Khan and his son Abdulla Azam too would be restored soon.

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah said it was very good that Rahul was back in the House. “We hope that he will strengthen India and will try to rid the country of its problems.”

Playing down the development, BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi said Rahul “has not been made dosh-mukt (acquitted)” and had got only a stay on his conviction, and that the matter was still pending with the court in Gujarat. “Also, the Supreme Court said that it (Rahul’s remarks) was not in good taste.”

Modi added: “Rahul was there in Parliament earlier also, what difference did it make to the Congress? They still lost elections.”

Rahul had been disqualified after the Surat court sentenced him to two years – the maximum punishment – in the defamation case. A punishment of two years and above automatically disqualifies a lawmaker, and also makes him or her ineligible to contest for at least six years.

In its order staying the conviction, the Supreme Court noted that the court had offered no justification for awarding Rahul two years’ punishment.