Bangalore. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before a special court here on Friday in a defamation case filed by the BJP’s Karnataka unit. The BJP’s Karnataka unit had accused the Congress of issuing allegedly false advertisements in mainstream newspapers. The advertisement, ahead of the assembly elections last year, accused the then BJP government in the state of being involved in massive corruption during its 2019-2023 reign.
The state unit of the Congress said on Thursday, “Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear in the city civil court tomorrow (Friday) at 10.30 am.” The party’s state unit said that after this he will hold a discussion with the newly elected Congress MPs from the state at Bharat Jodo Bhavan on Queen’s Road at 11.30 am. It said that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar will also be present on this occasion.
The court had granted bail to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in this case on June 1. Rahul Gandhi was asked to appear in court on June 7 in the case. The BJP had filed a defamation case alleging that these Congress leaders gave false advertisements against BJP leaders including the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The BJP had said in its complaint that the Congress had also published a ‘corruption rate card’ against the previous government, accusing it of taking 40 percent commission in all public works. The complainant had accused the Congress party of running a defamatory campaign against the previous BJP government. The BJP had alleged that Rahul Gandhi had posted this “defamatory advertisement” on his account on the social media platform ‘X’.