Wayanad LS Bypoll: Elections will soon be held on the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, which fell vacant due to the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as an MP. The Election Commission has started the process of holding the by-elections for Wayanad.
On March 23 this year, a Gujarat court convicted Rahul Gandhi and sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a criminal defamation case related to the 2019 ‘Modi surname’ statement. After this, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha had disqualified him from the membership of the House.
Letter was sent to political parties regarding Wayanad by-election
In a letter sent to recognized political parties on June 5, the Deputy Collector, as the District Election Officer of Kozhikode, had said that after verification of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and ‘Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail’ (VVPAT) systems on June 7, A ‘mock’ poll will be conducted after which a by-election will be held for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
The Commission has taken this step at a time when his review petition against the Surat Sessions Court’s order rejecting Rahul’s plea to stay the conviction is pending in the Gujarat High Court.
Congress blames the Election Commission’s move
The Congress has alleged that there is a ‘secret’ behind the EC’s move. The party questioned how the commission came to know about the court’s decision in advance, pending the appeal. Kozhikode District Congress Committee chief K Praveen Kumar said, “Preparations have been started for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat by-election even before the High Court’s decision on Rahul’s application. It is mysterious and suspicious.
He said that the people of the country want to know on whose instructions the Election Commission has started work for the by-election in Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.
What did Kerala Congress leaders say?
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary and MLA Mathew Kuzhalandan alleged that there was ‘political vendetta’ behind the move. He alleged that ever since Rahul in a speech in the Lok Sabha exposed the ‘suspicious dealings’ with the Adani group, the BJP government at the Center was taking hasty steps against him.
He said that conducting by-elections in Rahul’s constituency is also a part of vendetta politics against him. The Congress MLA also said that karnataka assembly elections After the party’s resounding victory in 2014, Rahul has become stronger and he (Rahul) is not intimidated by any step taken by the BJP government by targeting him.
Disqualified Rahul Gandhi
On March 24, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification regarding Rahul Gandhi’s admission to Parliament. In the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s notification, Rahul was declared disqualified from the day (March 23) the sentence was announced. Rahul was disqualified from Parliament under Article 102(1) of the Indian Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
After being disqualified from membership of the Lok Sabha, Rahul, a four-time MP, will not be able to contest elections for eight years, unless his conviction is stayed by a higher court.
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