RSS defamation case: Rahul to appear in court on Tuesday

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will appear before a court in Thane district on Tuesday in a defamation case filed against him for describing the RSS as the killer of Mahatma Gandhi.

Incidentally, the deposition of Rahul before a court comes soon after former president Pranab Mukherjee visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur and addressed the RSS cadres at the valedictory session of Tritiya Sangha Shiksha Varg.

Within the Congress, Pranab's decision has not gone down well. Even Mukherjee’s daughter, Sharmishtha Mukherjee, spoke out against her father.

It may be recalled that at a rally on March 6, 2014 — in the run-up to the last Lok Sabha elections — Rahul, had lashed out at the BJP and the RSS, saying, “RSS ke logon ne Gandhiji ko goli maari" while referring to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

An RSS activist Rajesh Kunte later filed a defamation case against him before a magistrate court in Bhiwandi.

After the court hearing, Rahul will be visiting the Bombay Exhibition Centre at Goregaon, where he will be addressing over 15,000 booth-level workers.

This would also be Rahul’s first major public engagement since the Pranab’s visit to the RSS headquarters.

His visit will also mark the launch of the national endeavour ‘Project Shakti’ through which the Congress president will establish direct communication between the grassroots workers and the party’s central leadership, according to Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam.

“The ‘Project Shakti’ will not only ensure to connect with the ground-level workers but also ensure that their grievances, if any, will be resolved with immediate speed. Every person who believes in the ideologies of the Congress party and their inputs are important to us. Also, it will help us look at the problems of Mumbai at a micro level where development actually takes place”, Nirupam said.

This will be Rahul's first public engagement in Mumbai after taking over as Congress chief in December 2017.