New Delhi/IBNS: In his first reaction after disqualification for the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Friday said is "ready to pay any cost".

The move came a day after he was sentenced to a two-year jail term in a defamation case for a remark seen as an insult to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I am fighting for the voice of India. I am ready to pay any price," he tweeted in Hindi.

The former Congress President was disqualified as a member of parliament on Friday after he was sentenced to two years in jail in a 2019 defamation case.

Parliament House's secretary general Utpal Kumar Singh issued a statement which reads, "Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat... Shri Rahul Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency of Kerala stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 23 March, 2023..."

On Thursday, a court in Gujarat's Surat city convicted Rahul in a criminal defamation case over his past remark referring to the surname Modi. Later, the Congress leader got bail.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign, Rahul had said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname."

A complaint, which was lodged by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Purnesh Modi, claimed Rahul had defamed the entire Modi community.