Even as disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi is set to kickstart his Karnataka campaign from Kolar, where he made the controversial “Modi surname” comment because of which he was convicted and sentenced to 2 year imprisonment by a Surat court, there seems to lack of clarity over party’s strategy over attack on Adani. While initial reports suggested that the party was keen on sticking to its “vocal for local” game plan that yielded rich benefits for the party in Himachal elections, later party leaders retracted and said that the leader would continue to target Adani as “it was a significant issue.”
Speaking to The New Indian , Congress Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Council, BK Hariprasad, said, “It is good that he is starting the campaign from Kolar, where he made the speech in 2019.”
When asked about whether the state unit of the party had requested Gandhi to focus less on the Adani issue and more on local issues, Hariprasad stated, “We want Rahul Gandhi to raise the Adani issue as it is a significant matter.”
The Adani issue has been a cause of constant tussle between BJP and the Opposition. It caused a stir during the budget session of Parliament, with 18 parts of Rahul’s Lok Sabha speech expunged from the records.
Meanwhile, the party is putting a lot of importance on the Gandhi scion starting his election campaign from Kolar, from where he will begin the Karnataka Assembly Polls campaign.
According to Congress leaders, Gandhi has decided to hold his first public meeting in Kolar, where he made controversial remarks about the Modi community in 2019.
Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP after a defamation suit was filed against him in Gujarat, following a Surat court sentencing him to two years in jail. On March 24, the ex-Congress president was disqualified from the Lok Sabha under a rule that bars convicted MPs from holding Lok Sabha membership, after being found guilty of defaming the entire Modi community in a case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.
Days later, he was directed to vacate his official residence in New Delhi, which was allotted to him as an MP, with the deadline set for April 22. Gandhi had made the ‘Modi surname’ remark in April 2019 in Karnataka’s Kolar while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. He was given the maximum two-year jail term for his offence, but the sentence was suspended for thirty days for him to file an appeal against the order. If the conviction is not overturned, he will be disqualified from contesting elections for the next eight years.