Patna: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi may visit Bihar on July 6 to appear before a local court in connection with a defamation case filed against him by senior State BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
Mr. Gandhi, said party sources, may also visit Muzaffarpur to meet family members of children who died because of suspected Acute Encephalitis Syndrome.
State Congress president Madan Mohan Jha has confirmed that Mr. Gandhi may visit Bihar on Saturday (July 6). “But, his tour programme in the State has not been confirmed yet,” said Mr. Jha.
Earlier, taking cognisance of Mr. Gandhi’s utterances at an election rally in Kolar (Karnataka) on April 13, Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi had filed a defamation suit against him under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code at a local court in Patna on April 18.
During the rally, Mr. Gandhi had allegedly said, “be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, all have a common surname…why all thieves have a common surname?”.
Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi had found Mr. Gandhi’s statement “offensive and derogatory.” He not only sought an apology from Mr. Gandhi but also filed a defamation suit against him.