Defamation: Rahul to appear before Guwahati court tomorrow

After taking a hardline against the RSS on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is bracing for defamation cases filed by RSS activists in different courts.

Rahul is scheduled to appear in a local court in Guwahati on Thursday in connection with a defamation case filed by an RSS volunteer for claiming that the “RSS people” had stopped him from visiting the Barpeta Satra, a 16th century monastery, while campaigning for the Assam Assembly elections on December 12, 2015.

Describing the Congress leader’s assertion as a “blatant lie”, the RSS volunteer said in his petition that a lot of people, including women and elected leaders of Satra, were waiting for Rahul, but he never visited the holy place.

Congress leaders are planning a show of strength when Rahul reaches Guwahati from Delhi on Thursday along with AICC General Secretary C P Joshi. A senior Congress leader said Rahul could have sought exemption from personal appearance in court, but did not want to lose any opportunity to “expose the narrow-mindedness” of the RSS.

“Rahul does not mind visiting every court in the country. The more the merrier. It would help us convey our stand against the RSS very effectively,” the leader said. In another case, an RSS volunteer had filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul for holding “RSS people” responsible for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

The Congress leader had moved the Supreme Court challenging the criminal defamation proceedings, but later decided to withdraw the petition and face trial in a Maharashtra court for his remarks made during an election rally. Rahul is expected to travel to Bhiwandi when the case comes up for hearing.