Rahul Gandhi to appear before Bengaluru court today in BJP defamation case

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before a special court in Karnataka's Bengaluru on Friday in connection with a defamation case filed by Karnataka's BJP unit.

Rahul Gandhi was seen at the Delhi airport early Friday morning, leaving for Bengaluru to appear in the case.

The BJP in the complaint had alleged that the advertisements in local newspapers and 'false campaigning' by Congress ahead of the 2023 state assembly elections damaged BJP's image. The case was registered against against Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Earlier, the court granted bail to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar who appeared before it on June 1.

"I appeared before the judge as legal guardian instructed by the court. I got the bail. A private complaint was filed against me, KPCC president and Rahul Gandhi too. Rahul Gandhi will also appear in the court," said Siddaramaiah after getting bail in the case.

Shivakumar called the case 'false' and said, ""It is a false case from the Bharatiya Janata Party on me, Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah."

In the May 2023 state assembly elections, the Congress party registered a landslide victory securing 135 seats to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP. The BJP got 66 seats and the Janata Dal -Secular got 19 seats.