New Delhi:

The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, which fell vacant yesterday after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament, could witness bypoll by September.

Mr Gandhi’s disqualification got here following his conviction in a defamation case and a two-year jail sentence by a court docket in Gujarat’s Surat on Thursday. The Congress chief has been granted bail for 30 days to enchantment the decision.

Bypolls to vacant seats within the Parliament and state legislatures should be held inside six months from when the seat fell vacant, in line with Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 2015.

It was this Act that paved method for Mr Gandhi’s elimination as an MP. Section 8(3) of the Act says an MP attracts disqualification the second he or she is convicted and sentenced for at the least two years.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat notified Mr Gandhi’s disqualification yesterday and now it is as much as the Election Commission to announce the bypoll dates.

There are three vacant seats in Lok Sabha now – Jalandhar, Lakshadweep and Wayanad, its web site confirmed.

Mr Gandhi misplaced his Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 and was elected from Wayanad, his second seat.

The defamation case pertains to his alleged “how come all thieves have Modi as the common surname” comment at a pre-election rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019. A former Gujarat minister had filed a grievance alleging Mr Gandhi had defamed the whole Modi group.

Convicted and sentenced within the case, Mr Gandhi now plans to problem the native court docket’s verdict in a classes court docket, in line with his group.

Mr Gandhi will tackle a press convention at this time at 1 pm.