Day before no-trust debate, Rahul Gandhi returns to Lok Sabha as MP

The Lok Sabha Secretariat restored the membership of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday, three days after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in a criminal defamation case.

The Congress said the Wayanad MP, who returned to Parliament after four months, would be a key speaker of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the no-confidence motion debate that the Lok Sabha will take up from Tuesday.

Soon after the Lok Sabha secretariat communication, Rahul reached Parliament and offered floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi's statue before entering the House to attend proceedings around noon. But the House was adjourned within minutes.

Rahul was welcomed inside the premises by his mother, Lok Sabha MP, Sonia Gandhi, and other opposition MPs. With his Lok Sabha membership restored, Rahul changed his Twitter bio to 'Member of Parliament' from the earlier “Dis'Qualified MP”.

His Twitter bio now describes him as a member of the Indian National Congress and a Member of Parliament.

On March 23, a Gujarat court convicted him for two years in a criminal defamation case, and the Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified him the next day.

Announcing the reinstatement of Rahul as an MP, a Lok Sabha notification said that in the wake of the SC order on Friday, the disqualification ceased to operate subject to further judicial pronouncements.