By: Shubham Ghosh
Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who got bail from a court in Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Monday (3) over his conviction in a 2019 defamation case involving the surname of Modi, will visit his former constituency Wayanad in the southern state of Kerala on April 11, India Today reported citing sources.
Gandhi lost his post as a parliamentarian representing Wayanad in Lok Sabha or Lower House of the Indian parliament following the conviction by the Gujarat court on March 23. He was also given a jail term of two years.
The Wayanad constituency was declared vacant with Gandhi’s disqualification as the MP by the Lok Sabha secretariat. However, the Election Commission of India did not announce a fresh polling schedule for Wayanad at the time of releasing the date for the assembly election of the southern state of Karnataka last month.
Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar told the media that the court gave 30 days to Gandhi to find a legal remedy and that the commission will wait until then. Gandhi went to Surat on Monday along with his sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and some other top leaders to appeal the decision.
“Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Wayanad on April 11,” India Today quoted a Congress official said on the condition of anonymity.
Gandhi, who had registered a massive victory in the constituency in Kerala in the 2019 general elections, had last visited it in February.
It was reported that Gandhi’s stay in Wayanad would be decided upon by the Kerala committee of the grand-old party which is currently underway, the news outlet further said citing the source.