Rahul Gandhi has one month to vacate official bungalow without HC relief

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• Mar 24, 2023 | Dhupali Das

Following his disqualification as an MP, Rahul Gandhi may have to vacate his official bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi within a month...

Digital Desk: Following his disqualification as an MP, Rahul Gandhi may have to vacate his official bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi within a month if he does not receive relief from a higher court in the criminal defamation case, an official said on Friday.

Following his victory as a Lok Sabha MP in 2004, Gandhi was allotted the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified him as an MP on Friday, effective March 23, after a Surat court convicted him in a 2019 criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail.

Giving immediate bail, the court allowed the former Congress president 30 days to appeal in a higher court.

"As he has been disqualified from Lok Sabha, he is not entitled to a government accommodation. According to rules, he will have to vacate his official bungalow within a month since the date of disqualification order," an official of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said.

Earlier, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had to vacate her official Lodhi Estate bungalow in July 2020 as she was no longer eligible for it after her security cover was downgraded.

The Congress party has stated that it will fight Rahul Gandhi's conviction and disqualification both politically and legally.

Following his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi will not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence.

The Congress attacked the government over the problem, calling it "a black day for Indian democracy" and stating that the battle will be fought "legally and politically."

The opposition party also claimed that the action was motivated by "political vendetta."

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP tried everything to disqualify him because he was telling the truth.

"He was removed from the House for speaking the truth, fighting for the Constitution, and fighting for the rights of the people," Kharge claimed.