Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was recently disqualified as Lok Sabha MP, will appear in a Gujarat Court today to file an appeal against his conviction and a two-year jail sentence in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.
According to reports, Rahul Gandhi is expected to reach the Sessions court at 3 pm on Monday. Moreover, the Congress leader will reportedly be accompanied by several other Congress leaders, including sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others.
A timeline of everything you need to know:
1. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu are expected to accompany the former MP from Wayanad today.
2. Ahead of his Gujarat visit, former Congress president and Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi arrived at his residence in Delhi today.
3. On Sunday too, the Congress chief met his mother at a hotel in the national capital. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law Robert Vadra.
4. On March 23, Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma in a defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark in 2019 in Karnataka.
5. The 52-year-old was subsequently disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in the case.
6. Later, Gandhi was served a notice to vacate the government bungalow allotted to him following his disqualification as a member of Lok Sabha. To which, the Congress leader said that he would abide by the eviction notice.
7. It should be noted that unless there is a stay on his conviction by a higher court, Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years.
8. Ever since the disqualification, the Congress party has been making an effort to rally like-minded Opposition players around it.
9. The defamation case was filed against Rahul Gandhi on the basis of a complaint by a BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for his alleged remarks, "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?"
10. Rahul Gandhi made the remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka in 2019 during the Lok Sabha elections campaign.
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