Rahul gets bail in 'Modi' surname jibe case

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before a court in Patna on Saturday in connection with a defamation suit filed against him by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Rahul was granted bail by the court soon after he appeared in connection with defamation case. Last April, Sushil Modi had filed a defamation case against Gandhi for his reported statement that "all thieves have Modi as their surnames".

Modi had said, "Rahul defames and hurts the sentiments of everyone who has the Modi surname."

Gandhi alleged that scores were being settled in the country with anyone who raised his voice against the ruling dispensation.

"I am committed to fighting for the country's poor, farmers and workers. I have come here to express my solidarity with them," he said.

"Whoever is raising his voice in the country against the Modi government, against the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh combine is being targeted through court cases. But my fight will continue," Gandhi told reporters.

Several Congress workers were seen staging demonstration outside the Patna court, demanding that Gandhi withdraw his resignation as the party's president.

The Congress leader's appearance in the court comes days after he, as well as Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury, pleaded not guilty in a Mumbai court in another defamation case filed against them by an RSS worker.

Photographs: PTI Photos