Congress leader Rahul Gandhi leaves for Kerala, to visit Wayanad

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi left for Kerala to visit his former constituency, Wayanad, where he would address at a public event on Tuesday.

During his visit, the Congress, who was disqualified from the Lok Sabha upon his conviction in a criminal defamation case, will address a public rally and hold a roadshow in Wayanad.

Rahul lost membership of the Lower House of Parliament after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. The case pertained to a remark he made using the surname 'Modi' while addressing a campaign event ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

At a rally in Karnataka's Kolar in April 2019, Rahul, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?".

Following his conviction, Rahul was disqualified as an MP on March 24, as per a Supreme Court ruling in 2013. Under the ruling, any MP or MLA stands to be disqualified automatically if convicted and sentenced to two years or more.

On Saturday, the Congress leader landed in a fresh controversy after he posted a stinging tweet, tagging with images of Congress leaders who either joined the BJP or sundered decades-old ties with the grand old party.

The Congress leader also hit out at the Centre by invoking billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.

The pictures he tweeted included Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, former Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, leader Anil Antony and former CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Kiran Reddy.

Reacting to Rahul's post, Sarma said he would be filing a defamation suit against the Congress leader over his tweet, linking him to the Adani Group.

"Whatever Rahul Gandhi has tweeted, it is defamatory. So, once Prime Minister returns from Assam, we will respond to the tweet and definitely, there will be a defamation case," he said.