Rahul Gandhi to visit his former constituency Wayanad tomorrow

The former MP from Wayanad was convicted and sentenced to two years in hail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma on March 23 in a defamation case over his ‘Modi surname’ remark in 2019 in Karnataka.

The matter pertains to Rahul’s remarks at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in April 2019, Rahul, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”.

Following his conviction, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP on March 24, as per a Supreme Court ruling in 2013. Under the ruling, any MP or MLA stands to be disqualified automatically 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.

He is also scheduled to visit his former Parliamentary constituency Wayanad in Kerala, a day later on April 11.

Karnataka is slated to go to 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 the Gujarat court to file an appeal against his March 23 conviction in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark.

He was accompanied by his sister and party leader Priyanka Gandhi. Along with her, the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh too came to the court.

The court in Gujarat’s Surat granted bail till the disposal of the appeal to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case.

*With agency inputs