The de facto leader of India's opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has been stripped of his seat in parliament and is facing two years in prison for allegedly defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gandhi has lodged an appeal, and is out on bail until a hearing on April 13. Fourteen opposition parties have banded together to petition the Supreme Court over the issue, arguing opposition politicians are being selectively targeted by federal investigative agencies. But does a jail sentence for the face of the country’s largest opposition party mark a new level of government control?

In this episode: 

• Pavni Mittal (@pavnimittal), Al Jazeera India correspondent 

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Ashish Malhotra with Chloe K. Li and our host, Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. 

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.

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