New Delhi: A special court in Bengaluru on Friday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by BJP’s Karnataka unit against the publication of advertisements in local newspapers labelling the BJP as corrupt ahead of the 2023 state polls, The Indian Express reported.
Rahul Gandhi is the fourth accused in the defamation case filed by the BJP against Congress leaders. Earlier, Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were granted bail on June 1 in the same case.
The complaint alleged that the Congress had defamed the BJP by claiming that the BJP leadership had fixed prices for various postings in the state like Rs 2,500 crore for the CM’s post and Rs 500 crore for a minister’s post, leading to corruption in governance.
The Congress also placed advertisements in newspapers on May 5, 2023, which alleged commissions to the tune of 75 per cent in Covid kit tender deals, 40 per cent for PWD tenders, 30 per cent for grants to religious organisations and other such deals, the BJP complaint alleged.
he allegations were called “an insult to the BJP party during the elections” by the BJP state general secretary S Keshav Prasad in a private complaint in the special court on May 8, 2023.
