Indian opposition leader reinstated as legislator days after court order

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference (AP)

India’s parliament has reinstated top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as a legislator three days after a court halted his criminal defamation conviction for mocking the Prime Minister’s surname.

Mr Gandhi’s reinduction as a member of parliament is likely to strengthen the opposition’s effort to corner Narendra Modi’s government ahead of a no-confidence motion this week over deadly ethnic violence that has roiled India’s north-eastern state of Manipur for more than three months.