Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will launch his campaign in Karnataka next month ahead of the state elections scheduled for May 10.
The April 5 rally will take place in Kolar, the site where Gandhi made the remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last name that resulted in a two-year prison sentence and Gandhi’s disqualification from the parliament.
“Rahul Gandhi will return to Kolar and begin his Satyameva Jayate Rally. We had requested him to begin the election yatra from here. Where he had made this statement, and which the BJP condemned his statement, he will begin his mega rally from here,” said state party chief DK Shivakumar.
At a rally in Kolar in the run-up to the 2019 elections, Gandhi said: “How come all thieves have the common surname Modi” in an apparent dig at the Prime Minister with a reference to fugitive businessmen Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi.
However, the BJP viewed it as an insult to Other Backward Classes, and Gujarati party leader Purnesh Modi filed a case as a result.
Gandhi has not apologised for his remark. He was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, which sparked a significant uproar from the opposition.
The Congress views this development as a “silver lining” and a stimulus to unite the opposition ahead of the general election next year. Leaders from 18 opposition parties have criticised the government.
The election date for Karnataka, where the incumbent BJP is vying for a second consecutive term in power, was declared by the Election Commission earlier today.
A year after joining forces with HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal-Secular to form government in Karnataka, the Congress was pushed from office. With a number of MLAs deserting, the alliance government fell
The BJP was blamed for overthrowing the government by the two other parties.
