Senior Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to two years of jail for his remarks from the 2019 election campaign. A local court in Surat convicted the former Congress chief in a criminal defamation case for his remarks using “Modi Surname”.
What was the statement?
While campaigning for the Indian National Congress in 2019, in one of his rallies he said asked “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” Following this statement, a complaint was registered against Gandhi by Surat BJP MLA and a former minister in the state government Purnesh Modi. Modi had claimed that the remarks by Rahul Gandhi had “refamed” the entire Modi community.
Credits – The Indian Express
The then Congress chief was addressing a rally in Karnakata’s Kolar when he made the statements. “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Narendra Modi… how come they all have common surnames? How come all the thieves have Modi as surnames?” asked the Wayanad MP in that rally.
2 year sentence
Rahul Gandhi was found guilty and sentenced to two years of jail on Thursday, March 23, 2023. However, he has been granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days to let him appeal the decision.
Rahul Gandhi arrived in Surat earlier on Thursday for the verdict and he was attended by the top leaders of the Congress’s Gujarat unit. After the verdict, Congress and Gandhi supporters have hit streets at various spots in the city as a show of support for the Wayanad MP.
Purnesh Modi. Credits – Twitter
“Truth is put to test and is harassed, but truth alone prevails. Several false cases have been filed against Gandhi, but he will emerge from all these. We will get justice,” said MLA Arjun Modhwadia.
While arguing for Rahul Gandhi, his lawyer stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and not MLA Purnesh Modi, should have been the one to complain as it was targeted against the Prime Minister.
