Disqualify convicted BJP MP Katheria, says Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Sunday sought the disqualification of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Shankar Katheria as Lok Sabha MP from Agra in Uttar Pradesh claiming his conviction was for an offence graver than what Rahul Gandhi was accused of.

An Agra court on Saturday sentenced Katheria, a former Union minister, to two years in jail and also fined him Rs 50,000 for thrashing staffers of Torrent Power Limited in 2011.

"He (Ram Shankar Katheria) should be disqualified. The law is equal for everyone. Now the Supreme Court decision has also come in the case of Rahul Gandhi. There is a big difference between what he (Katheria) did and what Rahul Gandhi is accused of," Nath told PTI.

On Saturday, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said Gandhi was disqualified within 24 hours of a Surat court convicting the latter in a 2019 defamation case connected to the "Modi surname" remark.

"It will now be seen if Katheria's (LS) membership is revoked or not. Let's see how impartially the Lok Sabha Speaker works," Singh had said.

Gandhi was disqualified as LS MP on March 24 after the metropolitan court in Surat in Gujarat sentenced him to two years in jail in the case a day earlier.

On July 7, the Gujarat High Court dismissed his plea seeking a stay on the conviction, after which he approached the apex court on July 15.

On August 4, the SC had stayed Gandhi's conviction in the case, paving the way for his reinstatement as Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad in Kerala.