India's Congress leader Gandhi disqualified from parliament

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's parliament on Friday disqualified the leader of the main opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, a day after a court jailed him for two years in a defamation case loosely linked to the prime minister, parliament said in a statement.

Supporters of the Youth Congress Party hold placards during a silent protest against the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, senior party leader of India's main opposition Congress party, in Mumbai© Thomson Reuters

Gandhi "stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha", parliament said, referring to the lower house of parliament.

Congress members held protests in some parts of the country on Friday against Gandhi's conviction and two-year-old jail sentence.

Congress party officials have described the judgment as politically motivated and blamed the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

Supporters of the Youth Congress Party hold placards during a silent protest against the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, President of India's main opposition Congress party, in Mumbai© Thomson Reuters

 

(Reporting by Rupam Jain, Nigam Prusty,Tanvi Mehta in New Delhi, Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar, Subrata Nag Choudhury in West Bengal, Sumit Khanna in Gujarat; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)