Rahul Gandhi, Hardik Patel have lunch at Ahmedabad restaurant

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Hardik Patel on Friday were seen having lunch in Agashiye Hotel, the place where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hosted his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and his wife for a dinner in 2017.

Gandhi was seen having a candid conversation with Patel and other Gujarat Congress leaders.

During the visit, Gandhi held meetings with party MLAs and Gujarat Congress leaders in connection with the upcoming by-elections for six seats in the state.

The Congress scion is in Ahmedabad where he had appeared before a local court in connection with a defamation case.

This is not the first instance that the former Congress party president has hopped into a restaurant.

In July, Gandhi visited a restaurant in Patna's Maurya Lok Place and feasted on dosa for lunch after a city court granted him bail in a defamation case.

The 49-year-old leader, who is a lawmaker from Kerala's Wayanad, was given bail in a defamation case filed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi over his 'all thieves have Modi as common surname' remark.

In January, Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi had visited the popular Fisherman's Wharf restaurant in south Goa.