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Former Congress president vacates his residence of 19 years following his disqualification from Lok Sabha in Modi surname case
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi vacated his residence of 19 years on Saturday, April 22, following his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP in the Modi surname defamation case.
Gandhi, who was elected to the LS from Wayanad in Kerala, said there is a price to be paid for speaking the truth and he is ready to pay it.
Rahul Gandhi handed over the keys to his residence, at 12 Tuglaq Lane, in the presence of his mother and former party chief Sonia Gandhi, his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior party leader KC Venugopal in New Delhi.
“This home, where I lived for 19 years, was given to me by the people of India. And I want to thank them,” Rahul Gandhi said. “There is a price for speaking the truth these days and I will continue to do so,” he said after vacating his residence on Saturday evening.
While he did not admit it in exact words, the fact is that it was an emotional moment for him as he stayed in the same residence after winning the election for the first time in 2004 from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi.
When asked if he did not request to prolong his stay at the house as the matter relating to the defamation case is still being heard in courts, Rahul Gandhi said, “No, I don’t want to stay here as this was given to me by the people of the country and I stayed here for 19 years. But there is no issue if it has been snatched from me.”
Following his move out of the government bungalow, Rahul Gandhi confirmed that he will now stay at the iconic 10 Janpath, where his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi stays. “I will stay with the former Congress president (his mother, Sonia Gandhi) at 10 Janpath. And then find some solutions.”
To a question about whether he will keep on raising the issue of inflation and unemployment, Rahul Gandhi said, “I will raise the issue more than earlier. Look, the truth needs to be said and someone has to speak up and I will keep on doing that.”
Rahul Gandhi, 52, who had been living in a government bungalow at 12 Tughlaq Lane since 2005, was disqualified from the lower house of Parliament last month after he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison by a court in Surat, Gujarat, in a defamation case for a comment seen as insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and those who share his surname during an election rally in 2019.
Rahul Gandhi, who had appealed the verdict in a court in the state and lost on Friday, said he was targeted by the ruling BJP for his forceful attacks on PM Modi.
The former Wayanad MP will now have to appeal in the Gujarat High Court or the Supreme Court against the Surat court’s order to retain his Lok Sabha membership.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that what her brother said was completely true. Terming her brother a fighter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said “What my brother said is completely true and he will not fear anyone and will keep on fighting for the issues.”
