Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit his former constituency Wayanad in Kerala on April 11, for the first time since his disqualification as a Member of Parliament. During his visit, he will address a public rally and hold a roadshow.
The former Wayanad MP was on March 23 convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H.H. Varma in a defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark in 2019 Karnataka.
The matter relates to Rahul Gandhi remarks at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in April 2019, Rahul, while taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “How come all thieves have Modi as a common surname?”.
Following his conviction, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP on 24 March under a Supreme Court ruling in 2013. According to the ruling, any MP or MLA will be automatically disqualified if convicted and sentenced to 2 years or more.
Meanwhile, ahead of the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will hold a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar on April 10. A day later on April 11, he is also scheduled to visit his former parliamentary constituency Wayanad in Kerala.
Karnataka is set to go to the assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. Earlier on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with several senior party leaders, went to a Gujarat court to file an appeal against his March 23 conviction in a criminal defamation case over his “Surname Modi” remark.
He was accompanied by his sister and party leader Priyanka Gandhi. Along with her, the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh also came to the court. A court in Gujarat’s Surat has granted bail pending the resolution of Rahul Gandhi’s appeal in a defamation case.
