Maha Congress leaders stage protest against conviction of Rahul Gandhi over his Modi surname remark

Maharashtra Congress leaders staged a protest outside the party's Mumbai unit office to protest the conviction of Rahul Gandhi by a Gujarat court in a defamation case over his Modi surname remark.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, party's Mumbai unit chief Bhai Jagtap, former chief ministers Prithviraj Chavan and Ashok Chavan, other leaders and party workers staged the protest.

During the protest in Mumbai, Patole said the party will resort to jail-bharo movement in the state. He said the politics of revenge doesn't last long.

The way Rahul Gandhi has been convicted and sentenced to two years in jail and falsely implicated this has happened due to pressure from the Centre. It is an attempt to malign his image. The Congress will resort to jail bharo andolan, he said. The leaders said Gandhi was selectively targeted to divert the attention of people from the core issues.

A court at Surat in Gujarat on Thursday sentenced Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in the 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his "why all thieves have Modi surname" remark. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma, which held Gandhi guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500 (dealing with defamation), also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.