A fresh defamation complaint has been filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks against Veer Savarkar.
Satyaki Savarkar, the grandson of one of the siblings of poet and freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, filed a criminal defamation complaint against Rahul over his remarks against the saffron ideologue. The Congress leader was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a criminal defamation case over a remark using the surname ‘Modi’.
Even as the grand old party jumped to his defence and moved court challenging his conviction for criminal defamation, the Congress leader landed in a fresh soup after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma threatened to file a defamation suit against Rahul over a social media post linking him to the Adani Group.
Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Satyaki alleged that Rahul made uncharitable remarks against the saffron ideologue during his recent visit to the United Kingdom this year.
“Rahul Gandhi went to England last month and in one of the gatherings commented that Veer Savarkar wrote in his book that he, along with his 5-6 friends, beat a Muslim and Veer Savarkar enjoyed it. The remark is an insult because that incident is a figment of his imagination. We’ve been hearing a lot from Rahul Gandhi and some of his followers about so-called petitions and pensions. Those were actually sustenance allowance and clemency petitions. We have moved court,” Satyaki said.
“After a point, we felt enough was enough and this needs to stop. Hence, we moved court. Let the court decide now,” he added.
Rahul was earlier convicted and handed a suspended sentence by a Surat court, enabling him to move an appeal against the verdict.
Responding to Rahul’s post, the Assam CM said he will file a defamation case against him after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Assam on April 14.
“Whatever Rahul Gandhi has tweeted, it is a defamatory tweet. So once Prime Minister goes back from Assam we will respond to the tweet and definitely, there will be a defamation case in Guwahati,” he said.
He further added, “But not now, I don’t want to talk about politics now, because we want to celebrate Bihu”.
Rahul Gandhi, in a stinging tweet, posted a tweet with pictures of former Congress leaders, who either joined the BJP or ended decades-old ties with the grand old party, along with that of businessman Gautam Adani.
The pictures included Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, former MP Ghulam nabi Azad, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, leader Anil Antony and former CM Kiran Reddy.
Earlier, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker filed a defamation complaint against Rahul in a Haridwar court for describing the organisation as “Kauravas of the 21st century.”
The lawyer for RSS worker Kamal Bhadauria, said his client filed a complaint in court under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the Congress leader for making offensive remarks against the RSS.
The Congress leader, had on January 9 this year, on the sidelines of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Haryana, alleged that “Kauravas of the 21st century wear Khakhi half-pants and run ‘shakhas’, and standing with them are three of the richest people of the country”.