Rahul Gandhi appeared in a Mumbai court on Thursday for hearing into a defamation case filed by an RSS worker over his comments allegedly linking journalist Gauri Lankesh’s killing with the “BJP-RSS ideology”, NDTV reported.
Rahul’s court appearance came a day after he made public his decision to resign as Congress president.
The Congress leader’s decision to appear in court has been linked by many to a point that he made in his open letter on Wednesday, on fighting an ideological battle. “I personally fought the Prime Minister, the RSS and the institutions they have captured with all my being. I fought because I love India… At times, I stood completely alone and am extremely proud of it,” he wrote.
Rahul was summoned by a metropolitan magistrate’s court in February on a complaint filed by Dhrutiman Joshi, a lawyer and RSS worker.
Joshi alleged that within 24 hours of Gauri Lankesh’s death, Rahul told reporters that “anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP, against the ideology of the RSS, is pressured, beaten, attacked, and even killed”.
Rahul Gandhi is facing another defamation case at Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district, filed by a local RSS worker, for allegedly blaming the Sangh for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
The Congress leader also plans to attend defamation case hearings in Patna on July 6, Surat on July 9 and Ahmedabad on July 12.
