New Delhi: Reacting to the Supreme Court verdict that stayed his conviction in the 2019 defamation case, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he would continue to work harder for protecting the idea of India.
“Come what may, my duty remains the same. Protect the idea of India,” Gandhi tweeted.
Gandhi was also accorded a grand welcome by Congress workers at the All India Congress Committee's headquarters in New Delhi.
.jpg.transform/170x160/image.jpg "Lucknow Court issues notice to Rahul Gandhi over 'derogatory' remark against Savarkar")
The former Congress chief visited the party office along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Ecstatic party workers at the AICC headquarters danced to the beats of drums, distributed sweets and unfurled the Congress flag to welcome Gandhi.
In a big relief to Gandhi, the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in the case over his Modi surname remark, paving the way for the revival of his Lok Sabha membership.
The Lok Sabha speaker can now revive his membership on his own or Gandhi, armed with the apex court order, seek restoration of his status as an MP.
Soon after the Supreme Court ruling, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury met Birla and urged him to restore Gandhi's membership.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hailed the Supreme Court ruling saying "truth alone triumphs".
"We welcome the verdict by the Hon'ble Supreme Court giving relief to Shri @RahulGandhi. Justice has been delivered. Democracy has won. The Constitution has been upheld. BJP's conspiratorial hounding of Shri Gandhi has been thoroughly exposed," he tweeted.
"Time for them to stop their malicious targeting of Opposition leaders. It is high time they respect the mandate given by the people and start governing the country, on which they have miserably failed in the last 10 years," he said.
Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
(With PTI inputs)
