Rahul to address poll rally in K'taka on April 10: Bhupesh Baghel

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would address an election rally in poll-bound Karnataka on April 10 and also visit his former Parliamentary constituency Wayanad a day later.

"Yesterday all senior leaders had reached there for bail of Rahul ji and the hearing will be held on April 13. Rahul Gandhi will go to address the election meeting in Karnataka on April 10. I have also been told that I have to be present there, so Rahul ji will go to Wayanad on April 11," Baghel said.

Karnataka is slated to go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.

Earlier on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with several senior party leaders went to the Gujarat court to file an appeal against his March 23 conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.

He was accompanied by his sister and party leader Priyanka Gandhi.

Along with her, the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh too came to the court.

The court in Gujarat's Surat granted bail till the disposal of the appeal to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case.

The former MP from Wayanad was convicted and sentenced to two years in hail by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H H Varma on March 23 in a defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark in 2019 in Karnataka.

The matter pertains to Rahul's remarks at a rally in Karnataka's Kolar in April 2019, Rahul, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?".

Following his conviction, Rahul was disqualified as an MP on March 24, as per a Supreme Court ruling in 2013.

Under the ruling, any MP or MLA stands to be disqualified automatically if convicted and sentenced to 2 years or more.