Congress leader Rahul Gandhi received bail today in the ‘Modi surname’ remark defamation case from 2019, and his two-year prison sentence has been suspended pending a decision on his appeal, which challenges his conviction. The court in Gujarat will hear his appeal on April 13th.
The sessions court has issued a notice to the lower court regarding the judgment. Gandhi visited Surat with an entourage of Congress leaders, who had earlier evaded answering a pointed question from The New Indian on whether he would apologize for his comments.
More than two dozen top leaders and MPs from Congress have gathered in Surat, but the BJP has questioned Rahul’s party for their visit to the area.
Leaders including General Secretary Ajay Maken, Punjab MLA Pratap Bajwa, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Priyanka Gandhi, flew to Surat with Rahul in an Indigo flight.
The BJP was quick to criticize the move, calling it “pressure tactics” and “tamasha” by Rahul Gandhi to influence the judiciary. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused Gandhi of making derogatory remarks about the OBC community and seeking to pressurize the country’s judiciary. “Rahul Gandhi made shameful remarks about the OBC community. Now, he is making a ‘fanfare movement’ to Surat with lots of people. Is this the way to appeal? Rahul Gandhi is trying to pressurise the country’s Judiciary,” said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
Another BJP spokesperson, Shahzaad Poonawala also joined in the criticism, questioning why the Congress needed to stage a ‘shakti pradarshan’ or ‘bhakti pradarshan’ while filing an appeal against Rahul’s conviction. Instead, he suggested that they should apologize to the OBC samaj and file an appeal before them.
“Why does Congress need to do a shakti pradarshan or bhakti pradarshan while filing an appeal against Rahul’s conviction in Surat? If anything they must file an appeal before the OBC samaj and seek apology.”