After being granted bail in a defamation case over his 2019 remark about the surname Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday called it a fight to save democracy against "Mitrakaal".
"This is a fight to save democracy against 'Mitrakaal'. In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and truth is my support!" Gandhi tweeted.
The former Congress chief has repeatedly been taking the 'Mitrakaal' jibe at the Narendra Modi government amid the Adani row, accusing it of working to benefit its "crony capitalist friends".
Earlier in the day, a sessions court in Surat granted bail to Gandhi in the defamation case and will hear the matter on April 13. The former Congress president is not required to appear in court for the next hearing.
If Gandhi fails to get his conviction reversed, his disqualification as an MP will stand and he will be barred from contesting elections for eight years. He has already been asked to vacate his government-allotted bungalow.
The 52-year-old Congress leader reached Surat along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and a host of Congress leaders. Chief ministers of three Congress-ruled states -- Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu -- also accompanied him.
Gandhi was convicted by the Surat lower court and sentenced to prison for two years last month in the case. A day later, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, sparking a huge protest by Congress and other Opposition parties.
The former Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad had said "how come all thieves have the common surname Modi?" while addressing a rally in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, targetting PM Modi over his last name which he shares with fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
The BJP called Gandhi's visit to Surat with a host of party leaders a "childish attempt" to pressure the judiciary.
"Rahul Gandhi might be going to Surat to file an appeal. It is not required of a convict to go personally to file an appeal. Generally, no convict goes personally. His going personally with a motley group of leaders and aides accompanying him is only a drama," Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted.
"What Rahul Gandhi is doing is also a childish attempt to bring pressure on the appellate court. All courts in the country are immune from such tactics," he said in another tweet.