With Rahul Gandhi out of Parliament, what happens in Wayanad? EC responds

The Election Commission of India said it will wait before holding by-elections to the Wayanad seat from where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was a Member of Parliament (MP). It added the commission has a time of six months before bypolls can be conducted after a seat is vacant. It’s important to note the Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi was suspended from Parliament after he was convicted in a criminal defamation case by a court in Surat.  

“We have six months' time to hold a by-election after a seat falls vacant. The trial court has given 30 days time for judicial remedy. So, we will wait,” said CEC Rajiv Kumar. 

#BREAKING | 'Have six months-time for Wayanad polls, not in a hurry to conduct bypolls,' EC.#Karnataka #KarnatakaElections2023 #KarnatakaPolls #EC #Wayanadhttps://t.co/ge3J2OVybC pic.twitter.com/WyZuKs19A7

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After a seat is vacated in Parliament, elections are to be held to the constituency in order to elect a new MP. CEC Kumar said the commission has a time of six months to hold the polls after the seat is vacant. Moreover, the court has also given a time of 30 days to Rahul Gandhi for judicial remedy so there is no hurry for elections in the Wayanad constituency. 

Rahul Gandhi suspended from Parliament

The court in Surat convicted Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case on Thursday (March 23) and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. However, he was granted bail as the court has suspended the sentence for 30 days, allowing him to appeal to a higher court. A day later on March 24, Rahul was suspended from the parliament as per an order of the Lok Sabha secretariat. 

The former Wayanad MP was disqualified for making defamatory remarks about the Modi surname at a public rally at Kolar in Karnataka. Gandhi, speaking at the rally, had said, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?"