New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi will vacate his official 12, Tughlak Lane residence, where he has been staying since 2004, on Saturday days after the leader was disqualified from the Lok Sabha. “Yes, he will vacate the official house on Saturday,” a senior AICC functionary said on condition of anonymity on Friday.
According to sources, Rahul will shift to his mother Sonia Gandhi’s official residence 10, Janpath, where he has already moved most of his belongings over the past week. The sources further said that Rahul will abide by the April 22 deadline given to him by the Parliament housing committee which had sent a notice to the former MP on March 27 after he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on March 24.
The disqualification had come a day after a Surat court had convicted and sentenced him to a two-year jail term in a 2019 defamation case involving the surname of PM Modi on March 23. According to sources, Rahul has got his household articles photographed and will hand over the keys to the official concerned on Saturday.
As the Congress had protested Rahul’s conviction and subsequent disqualification from the Lok Sabha across the country saying it was political targeting by the BJP, senior party leaders may also be present there when the former party president will vacate his house, said the sources. “Our leader has been targeted. It is natural for party leaders to show solidarity with him,” said a party veteran.
The 12, Tughlak Lane bungalow was allotted to Rahul in 2004 when he first entered the Lok Sabha. Rahul represented Amethi parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha till 2019 when he lost his traditional seat but won from Wayanad in Kerala.
The official house had to be vacated by the deadline of April 22 after which the occupation would have become illegal, as per the notice sent on March 27. On March 28, Rahul replied in writing saying he had “happy memories” of the 12, Tughlak Lane bungalow since 2004 but would abide by the rules.
The Congress has said that Rahul was targeted because he was asking tough questions of the government and pressing for a JPC probe into the alleged link between PM Modi and his businessman friend Gautam Adani.
Over the past few days, Rahul’s lawyers had appealed to the Surat Sessions court to quash the March 23 order of the trial court. However, the Sessions Court on April 20 rejected Rahul’s appeal.
If the party lawyers had obtained a stay of conviction from the Sessions court, Rahul’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha could have been challenged and probably there would have been no need to vacate the official house by the April 22 deadline.
Party sources said they had anticipated that Rahul’s plea may be rejected and hence had prepared in advance for shifting his belongings and vacating the official residence by the deadline. The process of appealing against the Sessions court order in the Gujarat high court will take a few more days, the sources said.
