After a Surat court granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case, the former MP on Monday tweeted saying that his fight is for the “voice of India”, and that he is ready to “pay any cost” for it.
In a tweet, the 52-year-old leader said in a tweet in Hindi, “I am fighting for the voice of India. I am ready to pay any cost.”
Gandhi reached Gujarat’s Surat today to file an appeal against the ruling of the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma, who had convicted him in a criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remarks, made in Kolar, Karnataka during an election campaign. On April 13, 2019, Rahul had said how come “all thieves have Modi as the common surname.”
In another tweet earlier, soon after the court’s bail, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “This is a fight against ‘Mitrkaal’ to save democracy. In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and truth is my support!”. Gandhi has been taking the ‘Mitrkaal’ jibe at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government, accusing it of working to benefit its “crony capitalist friends”.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge R P Mogera on Monday granted him bail and said it will hear his plea for suspension of conviction on April 13 after issuing a notice to complainant Purnesh Modi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former Gujarat cabinet minister. The sessions court asked the respondent (Purnesh Modi) to file his reply by April 10.
Gandhi arrived in Surat in the afternoon, along with his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. He reached the sessions court premises in a luxury bus along other Congress leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, among others.