NEW DELHI: After getting relief from the Supreme Court in a 2019 defamation case over his 'Modi'surname remark, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was reinstated to the parliament and will be back in the Lok Sabha, representing his constituency Wayanad in Kerala.

Restoration of his membership comes a day before the debate on the no-confidence vote begins in the parliament which has seen repeated disruptions over the opposition-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA alliance) demand for a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on the violence in Manipur and a focused discussion.

The Congress party and many of the INDIA alliance leaders were seen celebrating the occasion with sweets. The party tweeted the official notification from the Lok Sabha Secretariat, by calling it the 'Victory of love against hate,' in Hindi. 

Party president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted that the decision to reinstate Rahul Gandhi as an MP was a welcome step and that whatever time was left of their tenure, the BJP and Modi Govt should utilise that by concentrating on actual governance rather than denigrating Democracy by targeting opposition leaders.

When he arrived at the Parliament complex Rahul Gandhi first went to the statue of Mahatama and paid his respects on its feet. As he moved towards the parliament building he was welcomed by several leaders from his party and leaders of the INDIA alliance both outside and then inside the house. 

His party has said that he will be a key speaker in the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha which begins on Tuesday.

The apex court's three-judge bench consisting of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and Sanjay Kumar which heard Gandhi's plea challenging the Gujarat High Court's order which had refused to stay his conviction by a lower court in Surat noted that the trial court judge while convicting Gandhi had given no reason for convicting him and awarding him the maximum punishment of two years.

Had the sentence been a day lesser, provisions of the electoral law, especially provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act that envisaged automatic disqualification of an MLA or MP sentenced to two years in jail would not have been attracted, particularly when an offence is non-cognisable, bailable and compoundable.