Indian opposition disqualified from parliament after defamation conviction leader Rahul Gandhi

India’s parliament has disqualified senior opposition leader Rahul Gandhi from the lower house, a day after he was sentenced to two years in prison in a defamation case.

Gandhi, a Congress party MP from Wayanad in the state of Kerala, was convicted by a court for comments made about PM Narendra Modi’s surname at an election rally in 2019. He remains on bail for 30 days and plans to appeal the verdict. Gandhi’s party has pledged to fight the disqualification “both legally and politically”. The decision by parliament means that he will not be allowed to contest elections until his sentence is suspended or he is acquitted. National elections are due in India next year.