India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified as a member of parliament, a day after being convicted in a defamation case and sentenced to two years in jail.

“Rahul Gandhi … stands disqualified from the member of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction,” a notice issued by the parliament said on Friday, referring to the lower house.

In a tweet in Hindi following the move, Gandhi said he is “fighting for India’s voice” and that he “will pay any price for it”.

Gandhi, 52, was found guilty in a case related to his speech ahead of the 2019 general elections in which he referred to thieves as having the surname Modi.

Gandhi, a scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family and former president of the Congress party, will appeal in a higher court, the party said.

Congress officials have described the court order as politically motivated and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of targeting political opponents.

Congress spokesman Pawan Khera told Al Jazeera the party is “absolutely ready to fight this legally and of course politically”.

“We are in the courts of the people and as far as the legal options are concerned, our legal experts are looking into the remedial options available to us,” he said.

“The government realises, and if they don’t realise, they will soon realise that Rahul Gandhi in the parliament may not have been as lethal or dangerous for them, but on the on the streets of India, he will be far more dangerous for them to handle. People are with us.”

Earlier on Friday, Congress members held protests in some parts of the country against Gandhi’s conviction and two-year-old jail sentence.

Modi’s government has been widely accused of using the defamation law to target and silence critics. The case in Gujarat is one of several lodged against Gandhi, Modi’s chief opponent.