NEW DELHI: India’s opposition Congress party suffered a major blow on Friday when parliament disqualified its leader, Rahul Gandhi, a day after a court convicted him of defamation for comments that many deemed insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gandhi “stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction”, the lower house of parliament said in a notice, using its Indian name.

India’s Rahul Gandhi found guilty of defamation over Modi remark

Gandhi, 52, was convicted and sentenced to prison for two years in the western state of Gujarat on Thursday after he was found guilty of defamation in connection with a 2019 speech in which he referred to thieves as having the surname Modi.