- Wednesday, November 27, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was convicted by a court in Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat on March 23 and got disqualified from the Indian parliament a day later, flew to the city on Monday (3) to file an appeal against the verdict which also included a prison sentence of two years.
The 52-year-old leader was found guilty by the court in a four-year-old case pertaining to his controversial remark against the ‘Modi’ surname asking why all thieves had the common surname of Modi. The leader was accused of making the statement at an election rally in Kolar in the southern Indian state of Karnataka in April 2019 to target prime minister Narendra Modi and the two fugitive Indian businessmen — Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
#WATCH | Delhi: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra onboard a flight to Surat. pic.twitter.com/akLdGKMqIq
— ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2023
Gandhi’s lawyer Kirit Panwala said the former was set to reach a sessions court in Surat around 3 pm local time. He was accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is also a senior official of the party. Gandhi was given a month’s time to appeal the verdict in a higher court.
According to sources in the grand-old party, top Congress leaders such as Bhupesh Baghel, chief minister of the central state of Chhattisgarh; his counterpart from the state of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot and northern state Himachal Pradesh Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu would also be in the Gujarat city with the convicted leader, News18 reported.
Indian law minister Kiren Rijiju meanwhile accused the Congress of putting “undue pressure” on the judiciary, questioning the plan of the opposition party’s members to accompany Gandhi to the court.
“My point is very simple — why the Congress party is trying to put this kind of undue pressure on the Judiciary. There are means and ways to deal with judicial matters. But is this the way?” he was quoted as asking by News18.
He told reporters in Delhi that the Congress resorted to the action of gheraoing (encircle and protest) agencies and institutions whenever an action was initiated.
Rijiju also described that the Congress leaders’ decision to accompany Gandhi to the court as “sycophancy of one family” and asked whether the family was above the country.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back at the minister saying the decision taken by the party leaders to accompany Gandhi to the court was something personal.
“Even in a small case, family members join and go to court. Here, it is about an entire party and he (Gandhi) is fighting for the country,” he was quoted as saying.
