Mumbai, Aug 7 (IANS): Maharashtra's opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Monday rejoiced and celebrated the reinstatement of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as Member of Parliament after 137 days.

State Congress President Nana Patole said that the decision has not only enthused party workers all over India, but has also raised the hopes of the masses in the country that he is the leader "who fearlessly fights against dictatorship".

"The BJP had conspired with a local Surat party leader to lodge this bogus case against Rahul Gandhi based on a statement made in Karnataka during an election speech. The court sentenced him to two years jail and within 24 hours, his MP status was revoked and he was forced to vacate his government residence in New Delhi," he said.

Nationalist Congress Party General Secretary Dr. Jitendra Awhad welcomed the developments, terming them as "a big victory for democracy and the people of the country".

"The late PM Indira Gandhi was defeated, other veteran leaders had lost, they were tortured politically, but then continued to fight and eventually emerged victorious, just like Rahul Gandhi. Despite continuous targeting by the BJP, he continued his struggle and has finally won," said Dr. Awhad of the Sharad Pawar-led party.

Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut said that this was a resounding victory for democracy and now Rahul Gandhi will again raise public issues in the parliament.

Other leaders of various MVA constituents like Balasaheb Thorat, M. Arif Naseem Khan, Sandhya Savvalakhe, Prof. Varsha Gaikwad (Congress), Jayant Patil, Supriya Sule, Clyde Crasto (NCP-SP), Arvind Sawant, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Kishore Tiwari (Shiv Sena-UBT) and many more from different parties also expressed their happiness at Rahul Gandhi returning to the Lok Sabha.

Massive celebrations also erupted at the Congress headquarters here with beating of drums, dancing, singing, distributing sweets with top state and city leaders joining in.