New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday vacated his official bungalow and said that he is "ready to pay any price for speaking the truth". The move comes after the disqualification of the former Lok Sabha MP. Rahul Gandhi said the government bungalow located at Tughlaq Lane was given to him by the people of the country and he had stayed there for 19 years.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal were present as he handed over the keys to his official bungalow. "People of Hindustan gave me this house for 19 years, I want to thank them. It's the price for speaking the truth. "I am ready to pay any price for speaking the truth". For some days I will be staying at 10 Janpath," said Rahul Gandhi after the handover.
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Today @RahulGandhi vacates his home at TughlaqLane in response to the LokSabha Secretariat’s order. The Court gave him 30 days to appeal &the HC or SC could still reinstate him, but his exemplary gesture to move out shows his respect for the rules. #Respect #MeraGharAapkaGhar
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">Today @RahulGandhi vacates his home at TughlaqLane in response to the LokSabha Secretariat’s order. The Court gave him 30 days to appeal &the HC or SC could still reinstate him, but his exemplary gesture to move out shows his respect for the rules. #Respect #MeraGharAapkaGhar
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2023Today @RahulGandhi vacates his home at TughlaqLane in response to the LokSabha Secretariat’s order. The Court gave him 30 days to appeal &the HC or SC could still reinstate him, but his exemplary gesture to move out shows his respect for the rules. #Respect #MeraGharAapkaGhar
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2023
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified as an MP after a conviction in a defamation case, vacated his official bungalow on Saturday. It may be recalled that the former Congress president was urged to vacate the precincts by April 22 following his disqualification after the conviction and two-year sentence in the case pertaining to the "Modi surname" remark. The former Congress chief had on April 14 shifted his office and some personal belongings from the bungalow.
According to sources, his belongings reportedly have already been shifted from his official residence to his mother Sonia Gandhi’s house at 10 Janpath. A truck was seen moving out of the building with his belongings. Rahul Gandhi has been living in the bungalow for nearly two decades.
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Rahul whose relation with the public is unbreakable. Some see in him their son, some brother, some their leader.... Rahul belongs to everyone and everyone belongs to Rahul. This is the reason why today the country is saying- Rahul ji, my house-your house," the Congress said, using the hashtag "#MeraGharAapkaGhar".
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said, "They may evict you from a house, but you will always have a place in all our homes and hearts, Rahul ji. We know that such episodes won't deter you from raising the voice of the people and speaking truth to power." Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said Rahul Gandhi is neither worried about the post nor about the government house. "He did not compromise on his principles even after risking everything," he said.
"Today Rahul Gandhi vacates his home at Tughlaq Lane in response to the LokSabha Secretariat's order. The Court gave him 30 days to appeal and the HC or SC could still reinstate him, but his exemplary gesture to move out shows his respect for the rules," said party MP Shashi Tharoor in a tweet.
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. 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.
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 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, sources said. (With agency inputs)
