NEW DELHI -- Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's petition seeking a stay on a defamation conviction was dismissed on Thursday by a court in the state of Gujarat, casting further doubt on his ability to run next year's general elections.
The 52-year-old Indian National Congress party leader was given a two-year prison sentence on March 23 by a metropolitan court in Surat, in the same state, over remarks he made in 2019, when he asked why "all thieves have Modi as a common surname." The sentence was initially suspended for 30 days, but Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the lower house of parliament the next day.
