Rahul Gandhi visits Parliament day after verdict in defamation case

Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the second part of the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, March 15, 2022. Photo: PTI/Shahbaz Khan

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the Parliament on Friday, a day after he was found guilty in a 2019 defamation case.

He left after the Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon amid protests.

A court in Surat on Thursday sentenced Gandhi to two years in the case filed against him over his "Modi surname" remarks. The court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.

Several Opposition leaders have rallied behind Gandhi and hit out at the government and accused the BJP of targeting political opponents.

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday held a meeting with opposition leaders and deliberated on the strategy going forward in the wake of Gandhi's conviction.

Besides the Congress, senior leaders of parties such as the DMK, National Conference, RSP, VCK, JDU, CPI(M), SP, SS, IUML, AAP and CPI attended the meeting at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Kharge's office inside Parliament complex.

The opposition parties have also sought time from President Droupadi Murmu on Friday afternoon to raise the matter with her.

In Parliament, this government is relying on one set of techniques to throttle voices and if outside Parliament, a second set of tactics is being used which in recent times has had an effect inside Parliament too, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleged and added that the third strategy of the government is to "file false, frivolous and vexatious" cases.

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