“Truth Is My Weapon”: Rahul Gandhi After Relief From Gujarat Court

“This is a fight to save democracy, against ‘Mitrakal’,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, after getting bail from a sessions court in Gujarat today in the defamation case over his remarks on the surname of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said “truth is my weapon” in another Gandhian tweet.

“This is a fight to save democracy, against ‘Mitrakal’. In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and truth is my refuge!” read a rough translation of his post in Hindi.

The ‘Mitrakal’ dig is one he has been taking regularly at the central government, accusing it of working to benefit its “crony capitalist friends”. The last occasion was the budget, which he had dubbed “Mitr Kaal budget”.

Mr Gandhi got bail today and his two-year jail sentence was put on hold till the court has taken a call on his appeal challenging the order of the Surat magistrate. The next hearing is on April 13.

The two-year jail sentence handed to Mr Gandhi has led to his disqualification from parliament. If the sentence is not reversed, he will stand disqualified and will not be able to contest polls for eight years.

He has already started packing after agreeing to vacate his government allotted Lutyens bungalow in Delhi.

Targetting PM Modi over his last name — which he shares with fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi — in the run-up to the 2019 general election, Rahul Gandhi had said, “How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?” It was seen as an insult to Other Backward Classes, who share that surname, and BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a police case against him.

After the judgment from trial court, Mr Gandhi had cited a quote from Mahatma Gandhi. His post at the time read, “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it”.