For the first time since his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit his former constituency Wayanad in Kerala on Tuesday. Rahul will be accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi and a host of other senior Congress leaders as the grand old party prepares a show of strength in Wayanad.
As per his itinerary, Rahul Gandhi will hold a "Jansampark" roadshow in Wayanad's Kalpetta at 3 pm. The roadshow will start from SK MJ High School and end at MP office. A public conference will be held outside the MP office around 5 pm.
State Congress president K Sudhakaran, AICC members and KPCC leaders will also join the public programmes. Rahul's last visit to Kerala's Wayanad was in February 2023 during which he addressed a public rally and trained his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Gautam Adani-Hindenburg row.
READ | 'Fight To Save Democracy Against Mitrakaal': Rahul Gandhi After Bail In 'Modi Surname' Case
Last month, Gandhi was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha, a day after he was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "why all thieves have Modi surname" remark.
He has been granted bail in the case till April 13.
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.
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.
After being granted bail last week, Rahul Gandhi 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".
The Election Commission, while announcing the dates of Karnataka Assembly election, had said it would wait for the court's decision to hold a bypoll in Wayanad.