Will abide by eviction notice without 'prejudice to my rights': Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday replied to the Lok Sabha Secretariats notice to vacate his official bungalow and said he will abide by the eviction notice even as his party leaders slammed the government accusing it of humiliating himGandhi was on Monday served a notice to vacate the government bungalow by April 22 following his disqualification as a member of Lok Sabha after his conviction in a criminal defamation case last weekIn his communication to the LS Secretariat Gandhi saidthank you for your letter of March 27 2023 regarding the cancellation of my accommodation at 12 Tughlak Lane As an elected member of the Lok Sabha over the last four terms it is the mandate of the people to which I owe the happy memories of my time spent hereWithout prejudice to my rights I will of course abide by the details contained in your letter he said in his letter to the MS branch of the LS Secretariat which had sent him the noticeThe Housing Committee of the Lok Sabha took the decision following which the secretariat of the House served the notice on the former Congress president a Zplus protectee who has been living in the 12 Tughlaq Lane bungalow since 2005Slamming the Centre over the eviction notice Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said he condemns the governments attitude to threaten scare and humiliate the former party chiefHe also said that Gandhi could go and live with his mother Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence or he could himself provide a house by vacating one for the Gandhi scionThey will do everything to weaken him Rahul Gandhi He can go live with his mother or he can come to me I will vacate one for him I condemn this attitude of the government to threaten scare and humiliate Kharge told reporters before leaving for ParliamentAlso read Fight not meant for Rahul Gandhi but to safeguard democracy highlight corruption Congs Ajay MakenIn a democracy several times we have managed without a house for threefour months I got this bungalow after six months People do these things to humiliate others I condemn this attitude the Congress president saidCongress general secretary organisation K C Venugopal said that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress were not worried over the eviction notice He alleged that all this was being done to intimidate Gandhi as he was raising the Adani issueRajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also took a swipe at the government over the move calling it petty politics of petty menRahul asked to vacate the bungalow Their conscience has gone on a vacation Petty politics of petty men Sibal tweeted Asked about the eviction notice at a press conference Union minister Smriti Irani said the property does not belong to him but to the peopleA local court in Gujarat convicted Gandhi in a criminal defamation case on March 23 and sentenced him to two years in jail The conviction triggered his disqualification as a Lok Sabha member from the date of the verdict Gandhi was granted bail to allow him to appeal to a higher court in a monthA senior official said a Member of Parliament MP has to vacate the official bungalow within one month of losing his membership The Congress has already announced a protest march from Red Fort to Town Hall in old Delhis Chandni Chowk against the disqualification of party leader Rahul Gandhi from Lok SabhaDuring the Loktantra Bachao Mashal Shanti March the Congress MPs will hold burning torches in their hands during the marchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever