A court in the Indian state of Gujarat has sentenced opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, a scion of the Nehru Gandhi political dynasty, to two years in prison for commenting on the name of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On this subject informed “BBC”.
A criminal defamation case against Gandhi was initiated after his speech at a campaign rally in April 2019. In his speech, Gandhi spoke of corruption and uttered the phrase, “Why are all these thieves carrying the surname Modi? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi.”
Nirav Modi is an Indian billionaire fugitive charged in his native country with criminal association, fraud, corruption, money laundering and other violations. Lalit Modi is the founder and former chairman of the Indian Premier Cricket League, who was removed from office over corruption allegations.
The basis for taking action against Gandhi was the complaint of an MP from India’s ruling party, Purnesh Modi, who accused the politician of slandering the entire “Modi community”.
Gandhi himself explained in court that his comment was directed at corrupt officials and was not intended to offend any community. After the court verdict, the politician quoted the famous Indian politician, one of the ideologues of Indian independence Mahatma Gandhi on his Twitter: “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. The truth is my God, non-violence is the way to achieve it.”
How informed NDTV, Rahul Gandhi released on bail. His sentence was suspended for 30 days so that he could appeal the court’s decision.
Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the second largest Indian National Congress party. He is the great-grandson of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the grandson of India’s first female Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, and the son of India’s youngest Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.
